Zuckerberg meets LG, Samsung chiefs in Seoul as Meta ramps up AI ambitions

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg discussed cooperation on extended reality devices with LG Electronics executives on Wednesday as part of his visit to South Korea that highlights Meta’s ambitions in artificial intelligence.

South Korea is the second leg of Zuckerberg’s three-nation Asian tour that observers say is meant to discuss partnerships with tech powerhouses and forge good relations with business and government leaders in the region. He already visited Japan and will travel to India later this week.

On Wednesday, Zuckerberg met LG Electronics CEO William Cho for two hours to talk about business strategies for extended reality — known as XR — device development, LG said in a statement.

While experiencing Meta’s latest virtual-reality headset, the Quest 3, and Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, Cho “expressed a keen interest in Meta’s advanced technology demonstrations, notably focusing on Meta’s large language models and its potential for on-device AI integration,” the LG statement said.

LG is ramping up its strategic collaboration with Meta, aiming to expedite its XR ventures, it said. XR includes augmented reality, virtual reality, mixed reality and other related technologies.

Later Wednesday, Zuckerberg met Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong, according to local media. He is scheduled to meet South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Thursday.

“Meta already collaborated with high-end sunglasses brand Ray-Ban to launch smart glasses last year. Just like this, Meta could possibly want to introduce their XR technology to a worldwide customer base of a global consumer electronics maker like LG,” said Kim Yang Paeng, a technology analyst at the Korea Institute of Economics and Technology.

Kim said