SK Group and Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) Chairman Chey Tae-won, right, speaks during a talk with Naver CEO Choi Soo-yeon, center, and Chong Song, head of KAIST Kim Jaechul Graduate School of AI, during the 47th KCCI Jeju Forum at The Shilla Jeju, Friday. Courtesy of KCCI

SEOGWIPO, Jeju Island — SK Group and Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) Chairman Chey Tae-won said, Friday, that Nvidia will maintain its lead in the AI chip industry for at least the next three years.

However, the head of Korea's major chipmaker and the country's largest business lobby said the U.S. firm's dominant position depends on the changing environment and profitability of the AI technology industry.

He compared the current fervor for AI to the gold rush and likened Nvidia to the pickaxe and jean sellers who thrived during the 19th-century westward migration of miners in North America.

"When there was no more gold, the sellers became unable to sell pickaxes," Chey said during a talk with Naver CEO Choi Soo-yeon and Chong Song, head of KAIST Kim Jaechul Graduate School of AI, during the 47th KCCI Jeju Forum.

"Without making money, the AI boom could vanish, just as the gold rush disappeared."

The SK chairman noted that Microsoft, Google and Amazon, all of which produce their own chips, may stop using Nvidia's products after weighing the benefits against the costs.

His remarks came a few weeks after he traveled to the U.S. to meet the CEOs of Amazon, Intel, Microsoft and Open AI. In April, he also met with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang.

"U.S. Big Tech showed demand for AI data centers equipped with our semiconductors and energy solutions," Chey said. "Although it is impossible for us to supply all components for AI data centers, we are still tasked with building more efficient AI data centers by using our technologies and materials."

Naver CEO Choi Soo-yeon, center, speaks during a talk with SK Group and Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) Chairman Chey Tae-won, right, and Chong Song, head of KAIST Kim Jaechul Graduate School of AI, during the 47th KCCI Jeju Forum at The Shilla Jeju, Friday. Courtesy of Naver

The Naver CEO, who also met the Nvidia CEO in California last month, emphasized the importance of "sovereign AI," which refers to each nation's capability to autonomously develop and produce AI technologies, thereby enabling complete control over resources.

"We discussed the necessity of large language models (LLMs) that understand each country's language and context better," she said. "Jensen Huang also acknowledged the necessity of such models."

She added that nationwide cooperation between companies and government institutions is needed to develop a sovereign AI.

Toward small- and medium-sized enterprises facing difficulties in using AI technologies, both SK and Naver chiefs advised them to save all information related to their companies into databases for the potential use of AI services.

"The era of AI has just begun," the SK chairman said. "Even if your company is small, you can be the winner if you start using AI earlier than larger firms."