“Pleasure to meet you. I’m Jackson Huang.”
On the global stage, an NPS business card often proves very useful.
After all, it lets me meet people face-to-face whom a mere investment firm would never dare approach.
“It’s an honor to meet you. I’m Team Leader Lee Sejun of NPS.”
Santa Clara, California.
When I arrived at Envidi’s headquarters, CEO Jackson Huang himself came out to welcome me.
To be honest, this meeting wasn’t something I had arranged personally. While preparing the Sovereign Project, the Korean government had been desperately trying to secure GPUs, and the meeting had only barely come together thanks to our government’s ardent courtship.
“You’re far younger than I expected. Ah, don’t misunderstand. I only say that because I’m envious.”
“Not at all. Judging by your hobbies, sir, I think you’re far younger than I am.”
“Oh? You know about my hobbies?”
“I wouldn’t say I know them in detail, but I make sure to read every article and interview related to you. I understand you’re very interested in table tennis and cooking, and that you also have a deep appreciation for the arts.”
“It’s embarrassing to call it a deep appreciation. Haha.”
“And of course, I can’t leave out your excellent fashion sense. To others, you probably seem like you live at least ten years younger than I do. I’m truly envious.”
“If you’re envious, shall I give you one as a gift? I have quite a few of these leather jackets in my dressing room.”
“Then could you sign the jacket as well? It would be an even greater honor if it were one you usually wear.”
“Haha!”
The two Asians meeting on the other side of the world found plenty of common ground.
Regardless of time or place, there is no country that dislikes respect for seniority. I spent about an hour agreeing with him on the effectiveness of leather jackets, and thanks to that, I was able to narrow the emotional distance between us considerably.
“By the way, I hear the Korean government is preparing quite an interesting project.”
Once the small talk had ripened to a certain point, he lifted his teacup and began discussing business.
“Yes. We’re preparing it as a national project of sorts. But as latecomers, we’re finding it anything but easy to catch up.”
“May I ask how far along it is, specifically?”
“Well, the truth is...”
“You don’t have to tell me if it’s uncomfortable.”
“It’s not so much uncomfortable as... embarrassing. Korean companies recognize the importance of AI, but they still don’t even have a sense of where or how to begin.”
CEO Huang set down his teacup and smiled faintly.
“I’m not so sure. It seems to me you do have a sense of it.”
“...Pardon?”
“After the Korean government contacted me, I looked into how serious they were. And the amount of investment was enormous, far beyond what I expected.”
“...Is that so?”
“Yes. Thirty-five billion dollars is an extremely large sum, one that not even the United States, let alone Taiwan, could readily invest. The direction is correct. If you want to enter this market seriously, that amount would be the minimum. However.”
Once the business discussion began, his expression became astonishingly cold.
“I must ask for your understanding in advance that we cannot fulfill all of the Korean government’s requests.”
“CEO Huang...”
“I’m sorry. The Donald administration’s regulations are suffocatingly strict.”
“...”
“The United States not only prohibits selling H100 chips to China, but is also blocking indirect export routes that could lead to China. But from what I’ve seen of him, he seems like the sort of man who uses that security logic as economic logic. If the volume we supply to Korea increases, he will surely find fault and harass our company. Please understand our circumstances.”
I smiled bitterly.
The government had announced that it aimed to secure ten thousand units by the end of the year.
But we had been refused. For Korea, which was only just taking its first steps in AI, the more GPUs the better, but for now, the order of ten thousand had been rejected.
“Is there truly no way?”
I studied him in intervals.
Had Donald really blocked it? Or was he using Donald as a shield?
“Regrettably, there really is no way to arrange it. Since we’re on the subject, our own order backlog is also quite substantial.”
“Then how many can we secure?”
“We can give you about one thousand. But even that will require a wait of around six months.”
This was difficult.
When they were laying the Gyeongbu Expressway, Chairman Chung Ju-yung, irritated by Japan, supposedly disassembled all sorts of heavy equipment and copied it... If I could, I wanted to copy every last one of these H100s too.
Only now did I fully understand why all the supposedly world-class global companies were stamping their feet in front of this man.
“CEO Huang. In that case, could we make a deal?”
“A deal?”
“I don’t believe that a mega-corporation like Envidi operates with absolutely no inventory. There must be some units that haven’t found an owner yet. We’ll purchase the H100s at ten times the price.”
“Look here. Envidi is not a company that puts money first. Trust with our customers—”
“Then how about twenty times?”
“...Wh-what?”
“It shouldn’t be a bad proposal for Envidi either. If we drive the price upward, won’t the value of your other inventory naturally rise as well?”
His once-unyielding gaze began to waver little by little.
The current market price of an H100 was around forty million won in Korean currency, but at twenty times the price, each unit would cost eight hundred million. An order of ten thousand would amount to eight trillion won.
Of course, for Envidi, which monopolized the GPU market, eight trillion won might not be a huge sum, but considering the impact this would have on other price increases, it was not an offer he could easily refuse.
“...Are you serious? Did the Korean government truly say it would buy them at that price?”
“Yes. It’s the maximum amount I’ve been authorized for.”
“Well, this is... The H100 chip’s performance is indeed outstanding, but even I don’t think that price is right.”
“We don’t see it that way. It’s a product with more than enough value to justify it.”
Taking advantage of the wavering in his eyes, I quickly held out the MOA contract.
“It’s a supply agreement. We’ll leave the supply price blank. Instead...”
My own hands were trembling as I tried to sign an eight-trillion-won contract at my own discretion. But I soon regained my composure. The pension fund had liquidated a considerable amount of Envidi stock right before the crash and bought back in right before the surge. This must be the future God had shown me in advance for moments like this, right?
“Please supply the units by the end of the year. That is all we ask.”
CEO Huang pondered for a long time, then took a fountain pen from inside his jacket.
“I really shouldn’t do this... I truly shouldn’t.”
*
“Yes, it’s photo time. Chairmen, please look toward the front. When I call one, two, three, please all shout the slogan. One, two, three!”
“Korean AI independence! Aja aja, fighting!”
One month after the Sovereign Project. Five companies were selected as national representatives.
Much as the public had expected, two of Korea’s top platform companies were selected, and Korea’s top semiconductor company was selected as well.
One notable point was that Hynix was selected instead of Hoam Electronics. The main reason was evaluated to be Hynix’s recent surpassing of Hoam Electronics in HBM market share, and most global rating agencies were assessing Hynix’s potential growth prospects more highly than Hoam Electronics’.
Hynix, which had long been stuck in second place, might now overcome that humiliation and establish itself firmly as number one.
“I’m terribly sorry. I had a family court appointment today.”
Chairman Kim Jeongjin, who arrived late, greeted the government officials with an awkward expression. Recently at the peak of his career, he was being battered by a busy schedule both inside and outside the company.
These days, he seemed to be serving concurrently as a professor of philosophy.
Is an evil law still the law? Must principles always be upheld, or should exceptions be made for certain people? If one succeeded in business by skimming off the taxpayers’ hard-earned money, should one be treated according to principle, or be let off...? Perhaps he wanted to improve the public’s humanities education, because he had thrown such difficult questions into society.
Considering his old habits, which had included embezzling company funds and even serving prison time for it, it also felt as though he were testing just how far the public’s patience would go.
“Hello, Chairman Kim. I’m Team Leader Lee Sejun.”
I approached him with an amiable smile.
“Oh my. Hello. I’ve heard a great deal about you. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Thanks to Prime Minister Lee Chanho’s consideration, I had been quite deeply involved in selecting the companies for this bid. Thanks to that, I was able to receive a deferential greeting even from a chaebol chairman far above me.
I responded gratefully and held out my hand to him.
“My sincere congratulations. I understand Hynix’s HBM market share has recently helped it break its all-time revenue record. This is a double celebration.”
“This is only the beginning. Until we make it into the final two operators, we at Hynix will work tirelessly!”
“Thank you. Have you been briefed by the Ministry of Science and ICT on the upcoming schedule?”
“Ah, yes. I heard that you succeeded in securing ten thousand H100 chips.”
His face was flushed with excitement.
“It was truly the right decision. For AI development, the H100 is a fundamental necessity. Like excavators and backhoes on a construction site, you could say. Even if you combine all the units currently in the country, there are only about two thousand, but to think you’ll increase that to ten thousand by the end of the year... As an entrepreneur, I could truly sense the President’s firm determination.”
“Thank you for recognizing that. The units secured in that way will be held by a pension fund joint venture and leased to companies free of charge. Each time a company is eliminated, the GPU allocation for the remaining companies will increase.”
“I’m already looking forward to it. But... rather than leasing them free of charge, would you consider selling them outright? We’ve also been in constant contact with Envidi, but those people don’t release supply easily. If selling is difficult, could you at least tell me the know-how behind how you persuaded Envidi...?”
“Twenty times the price should be enough.”
“Y-yes?”
As he looked flustered, I held out a document to him.
“Chairman, separate from the Sovereign matter, the pension fund would like to make an investment proposal to Hynix.”
“By investment, you mean...?”
“We’re expecting roughly ten trillion won. In exchange, I’d prefer that this money not be used for your current main businesses, such as memory semiconductors.”
“Then...?”
“Please use all of the investment funds for GPU development. Whether you spin off a division, establish a joint venture, or anything else is fine. Please devote the pension fund’s new investment solely to GPU development.”
He examined me with a troubled expression.
“Surely... you mean to target Envidi?”
“That’s right. There truly was no answer. If we want to develop AI, we have to use Envidi’s pickaxes, and since they monopolize them, they can name any price they want. I’m furious and bitter that we had to pay twenty times the price.”
“But...”
“It will be difficult, I’m sure. I know domestic companies have already been jumping in as well, but from what I understand, they’ve had little success. That’s why we’re offering more investment funds. Use that money to buy talent from China, acquire companies, do whatever it takes—just make us independent in GPUs.”
“...Excuse me, but are we the first ones you’ve made this proposal to?”
“That’s right. When it comes to the semiconductor sector, I have particular trust in your management ability, Chairman. Right now, we have no choice but to be ripped off at twenty times the price, but I believe that if it’s you, you can more than make up for it. What do you think?”
He fell into deep thought.
For the pension fund to invest ten trillion won meant that the company would also have to put up a corresponding investment of its own. He would have to run the numbers carefully. If they entered the GPU market now, could they truly catch up to Envidi’s fortress?