NVIDIA to Link Korean Rebellions Chips With Its GPUs

Korean chip maker Rebellions and telecom giant SK Telecom have joined forces with GPU maker NVIDIA to develop an artificial intelligence (AI) platform. They plan to use Rebellions’ R200 processing chips connected to NVIDIA’s graphics processing units (GPUs) via the latter’s newly available high-bandwidth interconnect technology, NVLink Fusion. While the GPUs will process the user’s request and interpret it, the Korean chips will provide the response. According to the three companies, this kind of AI infrastructure should become available by 2028.

This collaboration represents South Korea’s effort to reduce its dependence on NVIDIA’s GPUs for its AI applications. Meanwhile, it also demonstrates NVIDIA’s confidence in co-existing with competing chips in an AI setup. After all, the Korean chips won’t function properly without the company’s NVLink Fusion connector. So it’s possible that NVIDIA would extend similar deals to other nations looking to build their AI systems independently.