Chey Tae-won, the chairman of South Korea’s SK Group, just finished a high-stakes marathon of meetings with the biggest names in American tech. He traveled across the U.S. to sit down with the CEOs of Nvidia, Microsoft, Meta, and Google. His goal was simple: ensure his company remains the primary provider of the hardware that powers the global artificial intelligence boom.
The trip kicked off in Silicon Valley with Nvidia’s Jensen Huang. SK hynix, a major part of Chey’s empire, is already a critical supplier for Nvidia. However, the two leaders say their relationship has now evolved. They aren’t just buyer and seller anymore; they are now planning and designing new products together from the ground up.
Next, Chey headed to Seattle to meet Microsoft’s Satya Nadella. They discussed a partnership that goes far beyond just chips. The two giants plan to work together on building massive AI data centers and running cloud-based solutions. This move signals SK’s desire to be more than just a hardware maker; they want to help build the entire infrastructure of the AI world.
In San Jose, Chey met with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Meta needs an incredible amount of memory to run its social media platforms and AI models. The two leaders discussed a long-term deal to ensure SK provides a stable supply of next-generation chips, specifically the upcoming HBM4 and HBM4E models.
Finally, Chey met with Google CEO Sundar Pichai. They talked about memory supply and explored ways the two companies could invest together in new technology.
By meeting these four titans in a single trip, Chey is positioning South Korea as an indispensable partner in the AI revolution. An SK official noted that these meetings should act as a “catalyst” for the entire Korean tech industry. As the race for AI dominance heats up, Chey is making sure his company has a seat at the head of the table.
