Samsung Electronics and SK Group ink $950 billion deal to power AI

South Korea announced $950 billion in new artificial intelligence initiatives involving Samsung Electronics, SK Group and U.S. technology companies, as global AI leaders race to fill chip shortages to develop more advanced systems.

SK Group has signed deals worth US$750 billion, including SK Hynix’s partnership with Nvidia valued at more than US$500 billion, the Blue House, headquarters of South Korea’s presidency, said following an AI summit hosted by South Korean President Lee Jae Myung in San Francisco, USA.

Samsung Electronics said it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Broadcom covering up to $200 billion in memory chips, foundry services and advanced packaging.

The deals represent the latest initiatives by North American AI companies seeking to secure supply as demand for chips and computing infrastructure outstrips supply, prompting technology companies to establish closer partnerships with South Korean leaders in the chip and memory sector.

In a speech at the summit, Lee said South Korea will lead the way into a new era of AI by partnering with global technology companies, making its “dynamic AI ecosystem” available to expand the global market for industrial and personal use of AI.

Lee released the “San Francisco Declaration on AI,” which outlines South Korea’s AI ambitions for technology cooperation with the US.

“I would like to present a vision for the future of AI and propose global cooperation to make it a reality,” said Lee.

Lee met separately with Nvidia President Jensen Huang; OpenAI President Sam Altman; the president of Anthropic, Dario Amodei; and Broadcom Chairman Hock Tan before attending the summit.

Also present were the CEO of Samsung Electronics, Jay Y. Lee; SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won and Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Euisun Chung.

Nvidia and South Korea’s SK Group have unveiled a new AI initiative valued at $500 billion, encompassing large-scale AI data centers and next-generation memory.

The initiative includes a long-term partnership with SK Hynix to ensure the supply of next-generation memory to Nvidia and jointly develop high-bandwidth memory for AI training, AI agents and physical AI applications.

As part of the deal, SK Telecom plans to build a 2 gigawatt data center equipped with Vera Rubin chips and SK Hynix high-bandwidth HBM4 memory chips (HBM). The data center is expected to come into operation in 2027.

Samsung Electronics said it will work with Broadcom on the development of its next-generation AI accelerator, based on Samsung’s HBM technology, and provide it with a sub-2-nanometer foundry process and advanced packaging solutions.

SK President Chey stated that AI customers are seeking much more memory than previously anticipated, citing recent discussions with Nvidia, Anthropic, OpenAI and Broadcom.

Chey said Nvidia’s projected demand for memory over the next five years may soon prove to be higher.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if the next time I see (Huang) he tells me these numbers are too low and says ‘I want more,’” Chey said.

He said Broadcom Chief Executive Hock Tan also told him that demand for the company’s memory will likely outpace available supply, and that Anthropic is regularly checking future chip availability as it moves from developing AI models to building computing capacity.

Chey said OpenAI needs enormous computing power and had asked SK to supply chips directly to the company.

The SK Group chairman also said Anthropic is creating its own “computing power” without elaborating, possibly referring to a Reuters report that the AI ​​lab is exploring the possibility of designing its own chips.

An Anthropic spokesperson said the startup is always exploring options and turning to a variety of chips for a diverse approach to computing.

Anthropic Chief Executive Amodei did not comment on the disclosed plan, saying the company had signed supply agreements with Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, without providing further details.

In May, Anthropic raised funds at a post-money valuation of $965 billion, citing Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix and Micron as partners whose technologies play a key role in providing memory, storage and logic chips.

The president of South Korea is expected to participate, this Saturday, in a meeting in Silicon Valley between the National Pension Service of South Korea — the third largest pension fund in the world — and US-based venture investment companies, with the aim of encouraging investments in South Korean startups.

The events highlight Lee’s efforts to attract global capital and technology partners as he pursues one of the world’s most ambitious state-backed AI initiatives.

Last month, Lee unveiled three major state-driven projects, led by Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, to build chip production clusters, physical AI ecosystems and AI data centers, as part of a comprehensive industrial strategy with more than $576 billion in investment.