Microsoft executives to meet South Korean tech leaders for AI collaboration

Microsoft Corp.’s top executives will meet with leaders of South Korea’s four technology companies next month to discuss ways to strengthen their partnerships in the artificial intelligence business.

Kyung Kye-hyun, head of Samsung Electronics Co.’s semiconductor business, Kwak Noh-jung, chief executive of SK Hynix Inc., Cho Joo-wan, CEO of LG Electronics Inc. and SK Telecom Co. CEO Ryu Young-sang were invited to MS CEO Summit 2024, industry sources said on Monday.

At the three-day summit meeting on May 14 in Redmond, Washington, Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella will hold closed-door meetings with them to seek ways to strengthen their AI partnerships, sources said.

Microsoft is expected to explore opportunities for joint development and supply of AI chips with Samsung and SK Hynix – the world’s two largest memory chipmakers – and cooperate in AI technology for TVs and other home appliances with LG Electronics. With SK Telecom, the US tech giant is expected to discuss business tie-ups in the 5G telecommunications and cloud sectors, sources said.

“It is rare for MS to pick the four Korean Big Tech firms and request their participation in the summit and separate meetings,” said a senior official at a Korean tech company.

Win-Win for all
The planned gathering between leaders of MS and the Korean tech firms comes as chipmakers, electronics makers and telecommunications companies actively seek business tie-ups to gain the upper hand in the booming AI business.

Analysts said Microsoft chiefs’ talks with Korean CEOs will be mutually beneficial.

If Microsoft installs its AI services on Samsung and LG’s electronics goods, it will boost the US firm’s status in competition with rivals such as Google and Meta Platforms, industry officials said.

Samsung produces about 300 million smartphones annually while LG Electronics sells 100 million home appliance products a year.

Microsoft is already a key customer of Samsung and LG’s AI-enabled smartphones, TV and other electronic devices.

The US company is also a big buyer in the server memory chip market.

Samsung and SK Hynix will likely propose ways to make next-generation high-bandwidth memory (HBM) AI chips, Compute Express Link (CXL) devices and solid-state drives (SSDs) for servers, all custom-tailored for Microsoft, sources said. Ked Global