Zuckerberg’s return to South Korea: Focus on collaborations in AI, XR

As part of his strategic Asian tour, Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg returns to South Korea after a decade to focus on collaborative opportunities in the realms of artificial intelligence (AI) and Extended Reality (XR) devices.

During his visit, Zuckerberg met with South Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeol and discussed the vision for creating open AI and digital ecosystems, aiming to strengthen cooperation between Meta and South Korean companies. Zuckerberg also engaged in discussions with LG Electronics executives about a stronger partnership in XR devices and potential cooperation in AI. LG expressed interest in Meta’s large language model-based AI technology and discussed possible on-device AI cooperation

The meeting, held with LG Electronics CEO William Cho and LG Corp COO Kwon Bong-seok, was centred around the development of next-generation XR device development. Indeed, Meta, known for its innovative mixed-reality headsets, including the recently launched Quest 3, appears to be forging a stronger partnership with LG in the XR space.

The discussions extended beyond XR devices; Cho expressed a keen interest in Meta’s large language model-based AI technology. Discussions also revolved around potential cooperation in on-device AI, suggesting a shared goal of utilising AI to improve each other’s products and services. 

He then met with Samsung Electronics Chairman Jay Y. Lee later the same day for talks about the evolving AI landscape.

This year, Meta plans to include generative AI technology into its main hardware goods and social media offerings. The company will then roll out an updated version of its custom chip in its data centres. To support its AI-focused goals, Meta also intends to acquire roughly 350,000 H100 graphics processing units by the end of the year from, the leading AI chipmaker, Nvidia.