A Showcase of Cutting-Edge Technology: The Entire City Turns NVIDIA Green

Downtown San Jose, California, is awash in a wave of green. On the morning of the 17th (local time), thousands of participants poured into the venue for NVIDIA's annual developer conference (GTC 2025). The line for registration stretched all the way down the street in front of the San Jose Convention Center. The area bustled all day with people from various countries and professions, including corporate representatives, developers, and journalists.

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People with green badges around their necks and smartphones in hand could not hide their excitement and anticipation. The streets were filled with people wearing hats, t-shirts, and backpacks emblazoned with green logos, creating a lively atmosphere. It was hard to find an empty seat at the outdoor cafes in front of the venue. The entire downtown San Jose, with green flags fluttering, was buzzing with the excitement of NVIDIA's festival.

On the 17th (local time), promotional materials for GTC 2025 were posted all along the way to the San Jose Convention Center in the United States. Photo by Park Juni

Inside the venue, there were many places where participants could gather for technical discussions. At the "Connect with Experts" area, conversations between experts and participants were lively from early morning. Discussions on future technologies such as robot learning tools and generative artificial intelligence (AI) were ongoing here.

Participants opened their laptops and tablet PCs in open spaces along the corridors, focusing on development work or chatting with other attendees. Some participating companies also showcased various tech products in the hallways.

On the morning of the day, the French robot startup 'Enchanted Tools' demonstrated their humanoid robot 'Mirokai.' The robot, equipped with wheels that allow smooth movement and a cartoon character-like expression, roamed around the hallways, attracting enthusiastic attention from participants.

Florian Nibotte, manager of Enchanted Tools, explained, "It seems that more participants gathered at GTC than expected," and added, "This is the best way to show our robot to many people."

On the 17th (local time) at the San Jose Convention Center in the United States, the French robot startup 'Enchanted Tools' demonstrated their humanoid robot 'Mirokai.' Photo by Park Juni

As of the 18th, the exhibition booths of participating companies, scheduled to open after the keynote speech by NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang, were still being set up. Booths for global tech companies such as Deloitte, Oracle, ASUS, Dell Technologies, and Foxconn, as well as the host company NVIDIA, were nearing completion.

Notably, booths for Korean companies Samsung Electronics and SK hynix were set up side by side inside the exhibition hall. According to NVIDIA, there are around 400 exhibition booths participating in this year's GTC.

On the 17th (local time), exhibition booths of participating companies are being set up at the San Jose Convention Center in the United States. Photo by Park Juni

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From 7 a.m., various presentation sessions were being held in session rooms at the convention center and Marriott Hotel. Attendees lined up at the entrance of each session room. By the afternoon, the entrances were so crowded that it was difficult to move. For most lectures, if you didn't line up 30 to 40 minutes before the start, you couldn't get in.

Jung Jonggyu, Director at SOS Lab, who attended the event for the sessions, said, "Our company is trying to enter the robotics field, and I heard there would be exhibitions and lectures related to GPUs, robotics, and AI at GTC, so I decided to attend." He added, "I wanted to attend the 8 a.m. session today, so I arrived at 7:40, but there were so many people that I couldn't get in. I'm worried about what time I'll have to come tomorrow morning to attend CEO Huang's keynote."

In particular, the session on "High Bandwidth Memory (HBM)" led by Park Jungsoo, a researcher from SK hynix, at 3 p.m. was packed with participants hoping to attend. About 30 people were already lined up in front of the session room 40 minutes before it started.

On the 17th at 3 PM local time, participants lined up in front of the session room where Jeongsu Park, a researcher at SK Hynix, was presenting on the topic of High Bandwidth Memory (HBM). Photo by Junyi Park

At 3 p.m. local time on the 17th, participants are lined up waiting in front of the session room where Jeongsu Park, a researcher at SK Hynix, is presenting on the topic of High Bandwidth Memory (HBM). (left)
At 3 p.m. local time on the 17th, Jeongsu Park, a researcher at SK Hynix, is delivering a presentation on High Bandwidth Memory (HBM). Photo by Junyi Park

During the session, Researcher Park said, "I believe SK hynix will lead innovation in HBM technology and market, but we are facing new technical challenges," adding, "We need to think of more efficient ways to improve bandwidth." He also announced that with the seventh-generation HBM4E, scheduled for mass production in the second half of next year, they expect up to a 1.25% performance improvement. He emphasized the need for a new Power Delivery Network (PDN) design and predicted that 'customized solutions' will become an industry trend in the future.

Many companies, public institutions, and developers from Korea also attended GTC. Kim Kibyeong, Director of AI for Gyeonggi-do Province, who attended with his team, said, "We have meetings scheduled with NVIDIA and other tech companies," and added, "We came to the event to explore ways to collaborate with AI companies and support local businesses."

Many participants expressed high expectations for CEO Huang's keynote. Nivot, a manager, said, "I'm most looking forward to CEO Huang's keynote," and emphasized, "The core of this GTC seems to be how AI technology can be applied to robotics, especially in physical aid."