President Lee Jae-myung arrived in San Francisco on the 24th, at the start of a tour of the United States and South America. The U.S. visit is expected to translate into concrete artificial intelligence (AI) demand supporting the government's three mega projects and to elevate the level of cooperation with global big tech companies.
At San Francisco airport, where Lee arrived that day, Ambassador to the United States Kang Kyung-wha, Consul General in San Francisco Lim Jung-taek and his spouse, San Francisco Korean Association President Kim Han-il, and Peaceful Unification Advisory Council San Francisco Chapter Chairperson Oh Mi-ja were present.
San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie presented a ball autographed by Lee Jung-hoo of the San Francisco Giants, and the city's chief of protocol welcomed first lady Kim Hye-kyung with a bouquet.
On the first day of the tour, Lee is scheduled to hold individual meetings with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, and Broadcom President and CEO Hock Tan. Later, at an AI summit, Samsung Electronics Chairman Jay Y. Lee, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Euisun Chung, and Naver Chairman Lee Hae-jin will join, bringing together the heads of Korea's four top AI companies and the CEOs of four global big tech firms for a meeting with President Lee.
Through a San Francisco AI Declaration, Lee plans to position South Korea as a "trusted supplier" in the global AI supply chain and to express a commitment to an inclusive AI transition, including "AI for All" and an AI-based society. On the 25th, at a Silicon Valley venture investment meetup event, the National Pension Service will sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with six venture capital (VC) firms, including Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), a leading Silicon Valley VC.
From the 26th, Lee is scheduled to visit three South American countries in sequence: Brazil (through the 28th), Chile (through the 30th), and Argentina (through August 1).
