Samsung, SK chiefs toast Jensen Huang’s Van Fleet Award in New York

Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong and SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won celebrated Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s Van Fleet Award in New York on Monday as they highlighted their companies’ cooperation in AI.

Lee and Chey attended the annual gala hosted by the Korea Society, a nonprofit organization that advocates for stronger ties between Korea and the United States. Huang was named this year’s Van Fleet Award recipient for his contributions to cooperation between the two countries in AI and semiconductors.

Samsung marked the occasion with a congratulatory video on digital billboards in Times Square in New York.

The video, which ran from 6 p.m. from Sunday through Monday, displayed Huang’s photo with the words “Pioneer,” “Architect,” “Builder” and “Friend” appearing one by one. It showed the words “builder of the AI era” and “friend of Korea” while highlighting his path as an innovator and his achievements in AI.

Lee noted during his remarks that his father, the late Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee, received the same award 20 years ago.

Huang was the most deserving recipient of the award, Lee said, as he credited Huang with putting Nvidia at the center of the AI industry and expanding the possibilities of computing and strengthening the partnership between Korea and the United States.

“This feels very personal to me, because we have three things in common,” Lee said. “First, both of our companies are all-in on AI.”

“Second, we both have daughters named Madison,” he added.

Madison is the English name of Lee’s daughter, Lee Won-joo, and also the name of Huang’s daughter. Both attended the gala alongside their fathers.

“And third, we both love this innovation, Galaxy Z Fold8,” Lee said while showing off his device, which was met with laughter from the audience.

In the follow-up remarks, Chey joked that Huang asks him the same question about chips whenever they meet: “Can you make it faster?”

Chey connected the remark to Korea’s culture of ppalli-ppalli, or doing things quickly.

Chey described the two companies’ partnership in simple terms: Nvidia designs the “brain” for AI computing and SK provides the memory. The comparison reflected Nvidia’s role in designing AI chips and SK’s dominance in memory semiconductors.

Chey drew a comparison between the battlefields of the 1950-53 Korean War, where Gen. James A. Van Fleet — the namesake of the award — served more than 70 years ago, and today’s data centers. The front line has changed, he said. Now, the person leading the charge wears a black leather jacket instead of a military uniform — a reference to Huang’s role in Korea-U.S. cooperation in the AI era and his signature look.

Chey proposed a toast to Huang, Huang’s family and the Korea-U.S. alliance by saying he wishes their partnership expands much faster than the demand for graphics processing units.

BY PARK YOUNG-WOO [[email protected]]