Chey Tae-won, Chairman of SK Group, reportedly met with Masayoshi Son, Chairman of SoftBank, to discuss cooperation in the fields of artificial intelligence (AI) and semiconductors. Amid intensifying global competition for AI infrastructure leading to semiconductor supply shortages, there is interest in whether the two sides discussed semiconductor facility investments.

According to the investment banking (IB) industry on the 5th, Chairman Chey had a dinner meeting with Chairman Son, who visited Korea to meet with President Lee Jae-myung, at a location in Seoul. Chairman Chey has maintained ties with Chairman Son, having attended an investment attraction event held at Mar-a-Lago Resort, the estate of former U.S. President Donald Trump, in Florida in October at Son's invitation.

The industry interprets this meeting as a 'preliminary coordination' for expanding semiconductor and AI cooperation. Chairman Son also met with the President in the morning to discuss strengthening Korea's AI competitiveness and cooperation in the semiconductor sector. SoftBank, led by Chairman Son, is regarded as a 'key investor' with influence across the semiconductor ecosystem, beyond being a mere financial investor (FI). It is a major shareholder of global semiconductor design company ARM and a long-term investor in global AI chip manufacturer NVIDIA. Recently, SoftBank has been pursuing the 'Stargate' project, a U.S. AI infrastructure construction initiative worth approximately $500 billion (about KRW 736 trillion), in collaboration with OpenAI.

SK Group is also participating as a partner in the Stargate project. On October 1, Chairman Chey signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) with Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, regarding the supply of AI memory semiconductors such as high-bandwidth memory (HBM).

The semiconductor industry is paying attention to whether investment cooperation plans between the two companies were discussed during this meeting. SK Group has announced significant investments in a large-scale semiconductor cluster under construction in Yongin, as well as in AI data centers.

On November 16, Chairman Chey stated at the 'Korea-U.S. Customs Negotiation Follow-up Public-Private Joint Meeting' held at the Presidential Office that more than KRW 600 trillion may be required for the creation of the 'Yongin Semiconductor Cluster.' The initially estimated investment of KRW 120 trillion has increased more than fivefold due to rising exchange rates and soaring raw material prices. This raises the possibility that SoftBank, which is expanding its investments in AI and semiconductors, has found common ground with SK Group, which needs to secure funds.

However, even if this meeting expands to investment discussions, many 'hurdles' are expected. If SoftBank, as foreign private capital, participates as an investor in a key domestic industry, policy and industrial reviews will be necessary. Concerns may also arise about the expansion of foreign capital's influence in core domestic businesses.

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