LG, Samsung, and SK leaders visit the U.S., China, and Brazil, seeking big tech ties and new businesses amid AI-driven industry shifts
On March 30, local time, LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo inspects pouch-type battery cells for ESS battery packs at Vertech, LG Energy Solution’s North American subsidiary specializing in ESS SI. (Photo courtesy of LG)
Amid the rapid reorganization of the global industrial landscape around artificial intelligence (AI), the heads of major domestic conglomerates are focusing on expanding cooperation with Big Tech and inspecting new businesses by visiting key global markets themselves.
In the AI ecosystem, where close networking with Big Tech is a core competency as much as strengthening in-house technological capabilities, the chiefs are also seen to be laying the groundwork for cooperation.
According to business community sources on April 3, the heads of major groups have recently been visiting key markets to personally oversee core businesses such as AI, semiconductors, automotive electronics, and batteries.
First, LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo visited Vertech, LG Energy Solution’s subsidiary specializing in energy storage system (ESS) system integration (SI), located in Westborough, Massachusetts, on March 30 (local time). It appears Chairman Koo inspected the site to preemptively seize business opportunities locally as future battery demand expands for AI data centers and physical AI.
It is suggested that during his U.S. visit, Chairman Koo may have also met with key partners like Tesla and GM to discuss battery cooperation.
After his U.S. visit, Chairman Koo traveled to Brazil to discuss Central and South American market strategies at LG Electronics’ Manaus production facility and local retail stores. With the home appliance and TV markets in Europe and North America already saturated, the strategy is to find a breakthrough in the ‘Global South,’ an emerging market with a population of 2 billion.
Prior to this, Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong stayed in China from March 5-6, holding a series of business meetings with high-level Chinese government officials and local Big Tech firms. It was reported that Chairman Lee reviewed plans to expand cooperation with Big Tech in fields such as AI, semiconductors, and automotive electronics.
Beijing is home to Chinese Big Tech companies like Baidu and ByteDance, and it is suggested that he may have visited these firms to discuss cooperation in the semiconductor and AI sectors.
There is also the possibility that he sought ways to expand component supply by visiting electric vehicle companies such as Xiaomi and BYD. Chairman Lee visited BYD’s headquarters in March of last year, and in April of the same year, Samsung Electro-Mechanics received final approval from BYD to supply multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs), a component for controlling current in electric vehicles, and began full-scale deliveries.
SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won headed to the U.S. in mid-last month to attend NVIDIA’s annual developer conference, ‘GTC 2026,’ for the first time. He, accompanied by NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang, visited the SK hynix exhibition booth within GTC to examine the latest achievements in the AI memory business.
In particular, CEO Huang drew the industry’s attention by leaving a signature ‘JENSEN ♡ SK HYNIX’ on the Vera Rubin, a key collaborative product of the two companies.
Chairman Chey also recently posted photos on his social networking service (SNS) of global Big Tech leaders signing his arm cast. The photos are known to be from his visit to Silicon Valley and Seattle in the U.S. this past February. This is interpreted as a strategic message to publicize the semiconductor alliance with Big Tech amid fierce competition to build AI infrastructure.
The analysis is that the industrial paradigm shift centered on AI is the backdrop for the chiefs’ dedication to the global stage. This is because, in the AI era, a cooperative network with global Big Tech is directly linked to competitiveness, just as much as in-house technological capabilities.
In the structure of the AI industry, ‘semiconductor-battery-server-data center-service’ are organically connected, and Big Tech is leading the core demand and technical standards. Therefore, the analysis is that companies can only truly enter and expand in the market by establishing cooperative relationships with partners from the initial design stage, rather than merely being in a supply relationship.
An official from the business community stated, “The global activities of the chiefs will become even more active in the future,” and “Supply chains are also expected to become highly diversified.”
Jung Suk-yee
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