How Hyundai, LG stole the spotlight from Samsung for Huang's Korea visit

This article is by Sarah Chea and read by an artificial voice. [NEWS ANALYSIS] While Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's visit to Korea last October sent chipmakers soaring, news of his latest trip to Korea this week has sparked a rally in robotics-related stocks — shares of LG Electronics hit the daily trading limit for two consecutive sessions right after his visit was reported, while Doosan Robotics surged around 50 percent. During the same period, Samsung Electronics gained 17 percent, while SK hynix rose just 4 percent. Marking his second visit in just eight months, the rapid succession of trips reflects Huang's determination to position the country as a critical pillar of Nvidia's robotics ecosystem, rather than merely as a supplier of components. The U.S. tech giant urgently needs real-world hardware environments in which to test and validate the technologies underpinning its physical AI ambitions — and Korea is a very suitable test bed, industry observers say. Huang is reportedly scheduled to hold a series of meetings with Korea's top business leaders, including SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo, Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Euisun Chung and Naver founder Lee Hae-jin. While Huang's previous visits to Korea largely focused on strengthening the chip supply chain, this trip is expected to center on robotics, reflecting the firm's evolution beyond semiconductors into physical AI, which spans robotics, autonomous driving and industrial digital twins. Korea as Nvidia's AI test bed Nvidia needs more than software to realize its physical AI ambitions, which means it requires real-world hardware on which to test and validate its AI, whether on robots, vehicles or home appliances. Korea's highly advanced manufacturing ecosystem and large-scale production capacity make it a natural fit as Nvidia's preferred real-world testing ground. Nvidia unveiled Cosmos 3, an open foundation model designed for physical AI, at the GTC Taipei 2026 trade show on June 1 and highlighted Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics and Doosan Robotics as firms developing robotics applications with the platform. Cosmos 3 enables robots and autonomous vehicles to understand and interact with the physical world by processing text, images, video, audio and motion data. Nvidia says the model can shorten physical AI development cycles from months to days. LG Electronics' home robot CLOiD, powered by Nvidia's Jetson Thor chip and Isaac robotics platform, was featured in the presentation. The Korean appliance maker is stepping up its robotics investments, with plans to ramp up production of key robotics components, including actuators, beginning next year. "The fact that Huang is returning just seven months after his last visit, without a major external event, shows how important Korea has become to Nvidia," said Jeff Kim, an analyst at KB Securities. "Nvidia needs manufacturing partners capable of testing and validating robotics, automotive and consumer AI applications at scale, and Korea offers exactly that." Nvidia is already cooperating with Doosan Robotics on intelligent robotic systems slated for commercialization in 2027. A commercial humanoid model is expected to follow in 2028. The partnership gained momentum in April when Madison Huang, Nvidia's senior director of product marketing and Jensen Huang's daughter, visited Doosan Robotics' Innovation Center in Seongnam, Gyeonggi, in April. Huang has also highlighted his collaboration with Naver, which is developing robotics technologies integrated with cloud computing and digital twin platforms. Perhaps the most strategically significant partnership is with Hyundai Motor Group, the company that not only owns robot maker Boston Dynamics but also can offer Nvidia access to real-world vehicle data and large-scale deployment opportunities for autonomous driving technologies. "Nvidia has spent decades developing autonomous driving technologies, but now has realized that software alone...