The announcement was made as President Lee Jae Myung visited San Francisco for talks with the heads of major US technology companies, including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Nvidia's Jensen Huang.

In the United States, Boring Company runs the Vegas Loop in Las Vegas, Nevada, which began transporting passengers in 2021.

President Lee's push to make South Korea a central player in the global AI supply chain comes as demand for chips and computing infrastructure outpaces supply, driving tech companies into closer partnerships with the country's semiconductor and memory leaders.

The European Commission on Thursday fined Google 890 million euros (US$1 billion) for breaching the Digital Markets Act (DMA), the bloc's landmark law policing the conduct of dominant online platforms.

China's factory activity unexpectedly slid in July, official data showed Friday, as leaders in the world's second-largest economy struggle to reignite domestic demand.

Business spending on equipment increased at a 15.2 percent pace, notching a second straight quarter of double-digit growth.

Beijing condemned the duties imposed on China and 59 other countries over alleged forced labor concerns, and warned Washington against waging a trade war.

How BSD City and D-HUB SEZ are helping shape Indonesia’s journey toward Indonesia Emas 2045

Asian markets rallied hard with Wall Street on Friday as South Korea's battered market made a record comeback, stirring hopes that the recent selloff in AI-linked assets may be near an end.

Brent futures slipped below US$90 per barrel, after jumping over 7 percent a day earlier as fighting in the Middle East escalated, although data showed tankers continued to make their way out of the region despite the continued strikes.

Oil prices jumped after fresh attacks in the Middle East shattered the relative calm of recent days in the US-Iran war as investors fret about the impact of depleting supplies on prices and global rates.

SK hynix and Samsung lost around 13 percent, dragging the Kospi index down 10.2 percent, having earlier been paused for a 20-minute circuit-breaker.