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Nvidia’s Jensen Huang Expands South Korea Charm Offensive as AI Ties Deepen

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is strengthening the company’s relationship with South Korea through a highly visible public campaign that extends beyond boardrooms and semiconductor factories to television appearances and cultural events, reflecting the country’s growing strategic importance in the global artificial intelligence ecosystem.

During his second visit to South Korea in less than a year, Huang is expected to meet executives from leading technology companies while also appearing on a popular television talk show and throwing the ceremonial first pitch at a professional baseball game. The unusual public engagement underscores Nvidia’s intention to deepen both business partnerships and public recognition in one of its most critical supply-chain markets.

South Korea occupies a central role in Nvidia’s AI strategy. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix together supply the majority of the advanced memory chips required for Nvidia’s AI accelerators, while the country’s strengths in manufacturing, robotics, and industrial automation make it an attractive partner for the emerging era of physical AI, where artificial intelligence is embedded directly into factories, vehicles, and robots.

The relationship has become even more significant as geopolitical tensions and export restrictions have reshaped global semiconductor supply chains. With advanced chip sales to China facing increasing limitations, South Korea has emerged as an essential production, development, and deployment hub for next-generation AI infrastructure.

Nvidia is also expanding its footprint as a customer within the country, supplying hundreds of thousands of advanced AI processors to government initiatives and major corporations as South Korea pursues an ambitious national strategy to become one of the world’s leading AI powers.

Beyond semiconductors, Huang has highlighted robotics as an important area for future collaboration, suggesting that South Korea’s industrial capabilities and demographic challenges create an ideal environment for AI-powered automation solutions.

The visit demonstrates that Nvidia’s competitive advantage increasingly depends not only on technological leadership but also on cultivating deep strategic alliances across the broader AI value chain, with South Korea emerging as one of its most important global partners.

Delta Electronics Warns AI Boom Is Driving Costs Higher

Taiwan’s Delta Electronics, a major supplier of power and cooling systems for AI data centres, has warned that surging artificial intelligence infrastructure demand is pushing operating costs higher. The company expects rising oil prices, material shortages, and broader inflation linked to AI expansion to increase pressure in the coming quarters.

Delta, whose customers include Nvidia, Google, and Meta, said production capacity remains tight as global AI datacentre construction accelerates. To meet demand, the company is expanding operations across China, Thailand, the United States, and Taiwan.

The firm previously announced capital expenditure of T$46.1 billion ($1.46 billion) in 2025 and now says spending will rise even further this year. This reflects how critical energy management, cooling systems, and infrastructure have become as hyperscale cloud providers and AI companies scale hardware deployments.

Despite cost concerns, Delta posted strong first-quarter results. Revenue climbed 34% year-over-year to T$159.35 billion ($5.02 billion), while gross profit surged 56% to T$59 billion ($1.86 billion), largely fueled by AI datacentre growth.

Delta Electronics’ stock has risen nearly 125% this year, significantly outperforming Taiwan’s broader market. The company’s outlook suggests that while AI remains a massive growth driver, supply chain constraints and inflation may increasingly shape profitability across the sector.

Nvidia B300 Servers Hit $1M in China as US Curbs Tighten Supply

Nvidia’s advanced B300 AI servers are reportedly selling for nearly 7 million yuan, around $1 million, in China as stricter US export controls and anti-smuggling crackdowns sharply reduce supply. According to industry sources, prices have almost doubled from roughly 4 million yuan late last year, creating a major scarcity premium in the Chinese grey market.

The B300 server, equipped with eight B300 GPUs, costs around $550,000 in the United States, but Chinese demand for high-end AI computing has pushed prices far beyond that level. Chinese technology companies are aggressively seeking cost-efficient hardware to power AI inference and token generation, while many remain cautious about directly holding Nvidia systems due to sanctions concerns.

Reuters reports that pressure increased after US authorities prosecuted Supermicro co-founder Wally Liaw in March, disrupting key black-market supply channels. Nvidia emphasized that B300 systems are restricted from sale in China and warned that unauthorized diversion would receive no support or service from the company.

Some Chinese firms unable to afford direct purchases are instead turning to rentals, with short-term annual contracts reaching 190,000 yuan per month. At the same time, domestic players like Huawei are trying to capitalize on Nvidia’s restricted access, challenging Nvidia’s estimated 55% Chinese AI chip market share.

The surge highlights how geopolitical restrictions are reshaping China’s AI infrastructure market, driving up costs while accelerating local competition in advanced computing hardware.