LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo visited Tennessee and Silicon Valley in the US for four days from June 17. This was his first visit to the US in 10 months since August last year. The visit focused on assessing the company's North American business strategy and the progress of future key growth areas such as artificial intelligence (AI), biotechnology, and clean technology.
According to the LG Group, Chairman Koo visited LG Electronics' manufacturing subsidiary in Tennessee and Altium Cells LLC, a joint venture between LG Energy Solutions and GM, on June 23. In Silicon Valley, he attended a meeting at LG Technology Ventures and LG Electronics' North American Innovation Center to discuss future investment strategies and nurturing start-ups.
Chairman Koo also visited LG Technology Ventures in Silicon Valley, a corporate venture capital (CVC) established by LG in 2018. The venture capital arm is funded by seven major LG affiliates and manages funds worth KRW 1 trillion, playing a key role in nurturing global start-up companies.
During the visit, Mr. Ku inspected products and technologies of startup companies that have received investment from LG Technology Ventures, including Inworld AI, Eco Health, and South8 Technologies, and discussed strategies to enhance LG's future business competitiveness through its startup investment portfolio.
At LG NOVA, LG Electronics' North American innovation center, Koo took an outside-in approach to encouraging collaboration with external startups to develop and commercialize new business models.
In addition, during Khoo's visit to Silicon Valley, he also met with AI semiconductor company Tenstorrent and humanoid robot startup Figure AI. On June 20, he met with Tenstorrent CEO Jim Keller, known as a “semiconductor legend.” Khoo gained insight into the trends in AI semiconductors and Tenstorrent's technology, and discussed the impact of the spread of AI on the semiconductor industry.
Koo also met with Brett Adcock, founder and CEO of Figure AI, who briefed him on the current humanoid robot market and technology trends, and observed Figure AI's humanoid robot “Figure One,” which was unveiled in March and attracted a lot of attention.
Chairman Kwak, who took office in 2019, has been actively involved in on-site operations in the North American market every year except for 2020 and 2021, when the pandemic continued. In August last year, he visited Boston in the United States and Toronto, Canada, focusing on inspecting local AI businesses.
During the visit, Mr. Ku investigated the North American business strategies of major affiliates such as LG Electronics, LG Energy Solution and LG Chem, as well as smart factory technologies such as robot automation and unmanned flow that are being applied to the production lines of washing machines and dryers.
Tennessee is located in the central-southern United States and borders eight other states, including Georgia and Alabama, making it an extremely efficient state for logistics and transportation. Global automakers such as GM, Volkswagen, and Nissan have chosen Tennessee as a production base targeting the North American electric vehicle market.
Taking advantage of these geographical advantages, LG is positioning Tennessee as a strategic base for entering the North American market. Following the completion of LG Electronics' home appliance manufacturing plant at the end of 2018, Ultium Cells LLC's second plant began operation in March of this year. LG Chem plans to build the largest cathode material plant in the United States in the region and begin producing nickel-cobalt-manganese (NCM) cathode material in 2026.
