Meta’s Zuckerberg to visit Korea on possible AI partnership

Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive of US tech giant Meta Platforms Inc. plans to visit South Korea later this month and meet key figures including President Yoon Suk Yeol and Samsung Electronics Co. Chairman Jay Y. Lee, according to government and industry sources in Seoul on Wednesday.

Zuckerberg reportedly sought a meeting with Yoon during the visit, and the presidential office has been in talks with Zuckerberg's people to set up a schedule, the sources said. They are likely to discuss various issues under a topic on the expansion of the artificial intelligence ecosystem, they added.

The co-founder of the global social media service Facebook is also expected to meet Samsung's Lee, the leader of the world’s top memory chipmaker.

Zuckerberg met Lee when the US entrepreneur visited South Korea in 2013 and 2014.

Those two leading tech figures are expected to discuss cooperation between Samsung and Meta.

Meta recently unveiled a goal to develop artificial general intelligence (AGI), human-level AI.

Zuckerberg pledged to further develop AGI, working to introduce the industry’s best AI model with the large language model Llama 3.

Meta’s AGI requires advanced semiconductor technology, which Samsung can provide, industry sources in Seoul said.

The South Korean tech giant recently established the AGI Computing Lab in Silicon Valley to develop dedicated semiconductors for AGI.

Write to Ji-Eun Jeong at jeong@hankyung.com
 

Jongwoo Cheon edited this article.