San Francisco, July 26 : South Korean President Lee Jae Myung wrapped up a two-day visit to San Francisco aimed at promoting artificial intelligence (AI) cooperation on Saturday and departed for Brazil as part of a three-nation South America tour for summits with regional leaders.

During his visit to San Francisco on Friday and Saturday, the South Korean President met with the chiefs of four global tech giants, including OpenAI Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman and Nvidia Corp. CEO Jensen Huang, calling for closer partnerships with South Korean firms in AI.

At a separate high-level meeting attended by Lee, global tech giants and South Korean tech conglomerates agreed to pursue a series of cooperation projects worth a combined USD 950 billion, Yonhap News Agency reported.

The projects include a long-term deal under which SK Group will supply USD 750 billion worth of high-performance semiconductors to Nvidia and others.

On Saturday, President Lee Jae Myung said that South Korea and the United States should advance their ties beyond their time-honoured alliance by expanding cooperation into technology, innovation and startups.

Lee made the remarks at a meeting in San Francisco with venture capitalists investing in Silicon Valley. "South Korea and the US should expand the scope of their cooperation beyond the longstanding security alliance to include technology, innovation and startups," Lee said.

He insisted that combining the US' world-class venture capital capacity and global networks with South Korea's advanced technology and manufacturing competitiveness would create new global innovators, the likes of global chipmakers Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, that will lead the world.

As part of the South America tour, Lee will first pay a four-day state visit to Brazil from Sunday, which will include a summit with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in the capital, Brasilia, on Monday, followed by a business roundtable in Sao Paulo on Tuesday.

After Brazil, the President will travel to Chile and Argentina through August 1.

The South America tour is expected to focus on strengthening cooperation in critical minerals and supply chains.

On August 2, the President will make a stopover in Frankfurt, Germany, where he will meet with South Korean residents there before returning home the following day.

/IANS