SEOUL, June 12 \u2014 Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang used his first-ever appearance on a variety talk show to deliver what amounted to a love letter to South Korea, crediting the country\u2019s gamers, companies and decades-long partnerships with helping transform Nvidia into a global powerhouse.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur lives, our history are very close, and Korea has always been a very close part of my heart,\u201d Huang said on tvN\u2019s You Quiz on the Block, which aired on Wednesday night.<\/p>\n
Filmed during his recent visit to Seoul, the appearance marked the first time the Nvidia founder had sat down for a variety programme anywhere in the world.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Huang traced Nvidia\u2019s ties with South Korea back some 25 years, arguing that the country\u2019s gaming culture played a critical role in the company\u2019s rise.<\/p>\n
\u201cWithout all of the amazing gamers here, like Faker and so many others, Nvidia\u2019s technology would not be a global phenomenon,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He was equally enthusiastic about Nvidia\u2019s Korean partners.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I\u2019m here in Korea, I want my partners to succeed. I want SK to succeed, I want Samsung to succeed, I want LG, I want Hyundai, I want Naver to succeed, and they know that,\u201d Huang said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI will do my best work I can and I will give you 100 per cent.\u201d<\/p>\n
The television appearance capped a whirlwind visit that had turned Huang into an unlikely celebrity.\u00a0<\/p>\n
During his five-day stay in South Korea, the Nvidia chief drew crowds wherever he went, from a stop at a Hongdae internet cafe to meetings with leaders of some of the country\u2019s biggest technology groups.<\/p>\n
Even host Yu Jae-seok could not resist revisiting last year\u2019s so-called \u201cKkanbu summit\u201d \u2014 the fried chicken gathering involving Samsung Electronics chairman Lee Jae-yong, Hyundai Motor Group executive chair Chung Euisun and SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won.<\/p>\n
Asked which of the three executives he was closest to, Huang diplomatically sidestepped the question.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re all incredible, world-class leaders,\u201d he said. \u201cAll three companies are very fortunate to have them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Beyond the corporate diplomacy, Huang reflected on the experiences that shaped him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He recalled immigrating to the United States from Taiwan at the age of nine and taking on restaurant jobs that included washing dishes and cleaning bathrooms.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe job didn\u2019t matter,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen you finished, it represented you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Resilience emerged as a recurring theme. Huang revisited the mid-1990s period when Nvidia came within weeks of collapse.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you have nothing, you also have nothing left to lose, and that\u2019s a very powerful person,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The conversation eventually turned to artificial intelligence and its potential impact on everyday life.<\/p>\n
\u201cAI is easy, computer is hard,\u201d Huang said.<\/p>\n
He argued that AI could lower barriers that have traditionally kept many people at arm\u2019s length from technology, allowing users to communicate with computers in plain language rather than code.<\/p>\n
To illustrate the point, Huang recalled meeting the owners of a barbecue restaurant he had visited the previous evening.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were so nice, they could be programmers,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIf they would like to create a new website, if they would like to create a new application, it\u2019s easy \u2014 tell the AI to help you do that.\u201d<\/p>\n
The episode ended on a lighter note. One of the programme\u2019s trademark \u201cbalance games\u201d forced Huang to choose between a lifetime of samgyeopsal\u00a0(grilled pork belly) or Korean fried chicken.<\/p>\n
\u201cUntil last night, it was easy to decide,\u201d he said, referring to a recent pork belly meal in Seoul.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a choice I cannot make.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SEOUL, June 12 \u2014 Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang used his first-ever appearance on a variety talk show…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":731456,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[276,49,48,75,8189,6494,848,18262,348,263339],"class_list":["post-731455","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-entertainment","tag-jensen-huang","tag-nvidia","tag-samsung","tag-south-korea","tag-tv","tag-tvn"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/731455","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=731455"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/731455\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/731456"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=731455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=731455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=731455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}