LG Companies Tied to AI, Robotics Extend Rally Amid Nvidia Hopes

By Kwanwoo Jun

Shares in LG Group companies linked to the fast-growing artificial-intelligence and robotics sectors rallied for a second straight session amid rising expectations that AI chip behemoth Nvidia could pursue business tie-ups with the South Korean conglomerate.

Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang is expected to visit South Korea later this week and meet with LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo and other Korean executives, according to reports by Yonhap News Agency and other Korean media, all citing unnamed industry sources. Huang is currently in Taipei to deliver a keynote address at Nvidia's global AI and accelerated-computing conference.

LG Group declined to comment on a possible Koo-Huang meeting. Nvidia wasn't immediately available for comment.

The news reports fueled investors' enthusiasm over LG's rapid expansion into AI and robotics, driving gains in shares of related companies on Monday.

LG Electronics' stock rose by its daily limit of 30% for a second consecutive session. The consumer-electronics company has been aggressively expanding into new businesses, including AI data center cooling systems and physical AI.

Hana Securities analyst Minkyung Kim recently wrote of the company's accelerating push into AI and robotics, noting its decision to advance the proof-of-concept feasibility test for its CLOiD home robot to the first half of 2026 from 2027. The robot is designed to autonomously handle household chores such as cooking, cleaning and laundry.

LG CNS, a software company providing AI and cloud-computing services, also surged by the daily limit for a second consecutive session, before paring gains to end 26% higher.

Shares in LG Innotek, a manufacturer of high-value-added substrates used in AI data centers and camera systems for robotics and autonomous vehicles, closed nearly 5% higher following Friday's 29% surge. The South Korea-based Apple supplier is likely to benefit from its leadership in semiconductor packaging substrate technologies for mobile devices, radio-frequency system-in-package and flip chip-chip scale package, Daiwa Capital analyst S.K. Kim said recently.

A deal with LG would add the group to Nvidia's growing list of South Korean partners. SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics have long supplied advanced high-bandwidth memory products to the U.S. AI leader.

Last year, South Korea's government and major companies, including carmaker Hyundai Motor Group and internet-platform company Naver, agreed to purchase a total of 260,000 graphics processing units from Nvidia to build AI infrastructure in the country.

KB Securities analysts said that Nvidia appears to be "in desperate need of manufacturing partners" in South Korea for physical AI, with a potential Huang-Koo meeting drawing attention.

"The focus of cooperation between Nvidia and Korean companies is rapidly shifting from memory-centric areas to physical AI, such as humanoid robots and mobility," analysts led by Jeff Kim said in a research note.

Write to Kwanwoo Jun at kwanwoo.jun@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 01, 2026 04:28 ET (08:28 GMT)