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Nvidia CEO's Asia tour sparks 'crisis' fears in Japan

From Liberty Times · () Chinese

Translated from Chinese, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

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  • Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang visited Taiwan and South Korea but skipped Japan, sparking concerns about Japan's declining competitiveness in the semiconductor industry.
  • Huang's visits focused on strengthening AI hardware partnerships with Taiwanese and South Korean suppliers like TSMC, SK Hynix, and Samsung.
  • Japanese media expressed a sense of crisis, noting that Japan lacks companies directly linked to Nvidia's core AI ecosystem, potentially leaving it behind in the global AI revolution.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's recent visits to Taiwan and South Korea, notably excluding Japan, have ignited a sense of crisis among Japanese media and industry observers. Reports suggest this omission highlights Japan's waning competitiveness in the crucial semiconductor sector and raises fears of being left behind in the ongoing artificial intelligence revolution.

With Taiwan's TSMC and South Korea's SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics as suppliers, Huang is positioning them as 'partners' to lead the AI revolution.

— NikkeiJapanese media interpreting Jensen Huang's visits to Taiwan and South Korea.

During his nearly two-week trip to Taiwan in late May, Huang met with top executives from TSMC, Foxconn, and Gigabyte, deepening AI hardware collaborations. He also visited South Korea in early June, engaging with leaders from SK Group, LG Group, and Naver, further solidifying partnerships with key suppliers like SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics. Nvidia also announced the AI PC chip N1X, co-developed with MediaTek and TSMC, during its Taiwan visit.

Japanese media, including the Nikkei, interpret Huang's engagements as a strategic move to elevate Taiwanese and South Korean suppliers into core "partners" driving the AI revolution. The exclusion of Japan is starkly contrasted with these new AI ecosystems being formed. The Nikkei pointed out that while Japanese firms like Tokyo Electron, Advantest, and Shin-Etsu Chemical are strong in semiconductor manufacturing equipment and materials, they lack direct ties to Nvidia's current AI initiatives.

Unlike Taiwan and South Korea, Japan has no companies directly related to Nvidia.

— NikkeiJapanese media highlighting Japan's exclusion from Nvidia's core AI ecosystem.

This situation has led to broader concerns within Japan about its ability to compete in the global AI landscape. The Nikkei noted that Japanese companies struggle to counter the market dominance of U.S. tech giants like Google and Microsoft. The report concluded with a critical assessment, suggesting that recent visits by AI startups like Anthropic and Palantir to Japan were more about treating Japanese firms as customers rather than development partners, casting doubt on Japan's capacity to keep pace with the new AI wave.

Japanese companies cannot even compete when U.S. companies like Google and Microsoft lead the market.

— NikkeiJapanese media expressing concern about Japan's ability to compete in the AI race.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Liberty Times in Chinese. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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