Choi Tae-won Toasts Jensen Huang’s Van Fleet Award: "The Front Line of the Korea-U.S. AI Alliance Is Data Centers"
TECHWORLD ·
✦ AI Summary
Choi Tae-won, chairman of SK Group, attended the 2026 Annual Gala hosted by The Korea Society in New York on the 28th local time and congratulated Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA, on receiving the Van Fleet Award.
Choi delivered his congratulations to Huang and proposed a toast, emphasizing the importance of Korea-U.S. cooperation in AI and advanced technology, and said the front line of the Korea-U.S. AI alliance is data centers.
He explained that NVIDIA designs the Brain and SK makes the Memory, and Choi Tae-won became the second recipient of the Van Fleet Award, following the late Choi Jong-hyun, the former chairman.
BizCrushWant to follow Korean talks and live streams in real time?Try CapCrush on the web
Choi Tae-won, chairman of SK Group, attended the 2026 Annual Gala hosted by The Korea Society in New York on the 28th local time and congratulated Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA, on receiving this year’s Van Fleet Award. At the event, organized by The Korea Society, a Korea-U.S. friendship nonprofit, Choi delivered his congratulations to Huang and proposed a toast, emphasizing the importance of Korea-U.S. cooperation in AI and advanced technology. He also underscored the need for cooperation by saying the front line of the Korea-U.S. AI alliance is data centers.
Choi said that whenever he meets Huang, he is asked why things cannot be made faster. He linked that emphasis on speed in such conversations to Korea’s "ppalli-ppalli" spirit and noted its commonality with NVIDIA’s culture.
Choi then explained that NVIDIA designs the Brain, while SK makes the Memory. He was pointing out that NVIDIA’s role lies in Brain design and SK’s role in Memory production.
Based on that division of roles, Choi also described the significance of cooperation between the two companies. He explained the partnership as one in which SK Memory supports NVIDIA’s fast computing.
Choi presented AI and data centers as a new venue for Korea-U.S. alliance cooperation. Referring to General Van Fleet’s establishment of the Korea-U.S. alliance on the battlefield more than 70 years ago, he placed the alliance’s historical starting point on the battlefield. He then said that 70 years later, the front line of alliance cooperation has shifted from the battlefield to data centers.
Choi identified Huang as the person at the front line 70 years later. In the context of presenting AI and data centers as the new venue for Korea-U.S. alliance cooperation, he emphasized the meaning of Korea-U.S. cooperation centered on AI and semiconductors.
In the process, Choi used humor by referring to Huang’s black leather jacket and also introduced "Jensen's Rule." He assessed Huang’s influence and vision for the AI industry with the expression that the more you buy, the more you save.
Choi said Huang inspires people to think bigger. He expressed gratitude for being pushed to think more grandly and also said he was delighted to be Huang’s partner.
At the end of the event, Choi proposed a toast to the attendees. The toast was to Huang, his family, and the Korea-U.S. alliance. Choi said he hoped the pace of expanding the partnership would outstrip the pace of rising GPU demand.
The event highlighted the AI semiconductor partnership between NVIDIA and SK and underscored the significance of Korea-U.S. cooperation in AI and advanced technology. Choi Tae-won became the second recipient of the Van Fleet Award, following the late Choi Jong-hyun, the former chairman.
Source: TECHWORLD · Park Gyu-chan
Original: https://www.epnc.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=407472
References
This article was produced with the help of an automated content generation algorithm.
Source: TECHWORLD
View originalThis article was summarized and organized by BizCrush based on the original article from TECHWORLD. For exact quotations and full details, please refer to the original article.
Keep reading
BizCrush