Lee Hae-jin, left, global investment officer and founder of Naver, poses with Nvidia founder Jensen Huang, center, and Naver CEO Choi Soo-yeon, at Nvidia's headquarters in Santa Clara, Calif., June 25 (local time). Courtesy of Naver

Top executives from Naver and Nvidia emphasized the importance of securing "sovereign artificial intelligence (AI)" and pledged to enhance collaboration in AI projects, Korea's leading internet portal operator said Friday.

Sovereign AI refers to each nation's capability to autonomously develop and produce AI technologies, thereby enabling complete control over AI resources, including data and workforce, using their own resources.

This was the first meeting for Lee Hae-jin, global investment officer and founder of Naver, along with its top management, to meet with Nvidia founder Jensen Huang. They exchanged ideas on developing advanced joint AI business models. Naver CEO Choi Soo-yeon also participated in the meeting with the Nvidia chief.

The concept of sovereign AI is increasingly emphasized by major big tech companies, as it allows AI models to be more advanced by incorporating regional cultures, languages, and even values into their development.

Naver stands at the forefront of the sovereign AI business in Korea, particularly after developing the HyperCLOVA X large language model. The internet firm continues to enhance its performance, particularly in terms of security.

"Naver's top executives discussed the importance of sovereign AI and strategies to develop AI models that effectively incorporate cultural values specific to each region," an official at Naver said. The meeting took place at Nvidia's headquarters in Santa Clara, Calif., Tuesday (local time).

Both companies have consistently emphasized the importance of sovereign AI. Therefore, they will closely collaborate to develop various AI models that respect the cultural values of each regional society, according to the official.

Nvidia specializes in providing hardware infrastructure for global big tech firms to develop AI models, while Naver is heavily investing in enhancing its AI capabilities, particularly focusing on Korean language models. Naver utilizes Nvidia's AI chips to power its services.