It has been revealed that T1 and NVIDIA have been engaged in extensive business discussions. The fact that NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang’s first stop during his visit to Korea on the 5th was the esports organization T1 suggests that the relationship between the two companies goes beyond a simple one-off fan event.

T1 COO Ahn Woong-ki commented on the relationship between the two companies, stating, "We have been in discussions on various fronts, including business, for some time. I believe that is why a meeting like today’s was possible." When asked about the specific areas of business discussed, he remained cautious, saying, "It is difficult to go into detail."

The collaboration began in the realm of marketing. "Our relationship was built on a past 'VALORANT' social media event we conducted with NVIDIA, which served as the foundation for today's meeting," Ahn explained. "We have maintained consistent communication with NVIDIA, and when we heard about the CEO's visit to Korea, we proposed a meeting." This indicates that what started as a one-off content collaboration has expanded into broader discussions covering various business aspects.

NVIDIA has long provided the core infrastructure for the PC gaming and esports ecosystem through its high-performance graphics processing units (GPUs), while T1 is a world-class organization with a global fanbase. Typically, such a partnership can expand into areas like sponsorships, joint marketing, the supply of competition hardware, product testing, and technical cooperation.

The fact that both sides have not disclosed specific details suggests that the discussions may have moved beyond a standard promotional partnership.

NVIDIA’s interest in the esports and gaming market was clearly evident at the event. CEO Jensen Huang praised Korea as the birthplace of esports and the creator of its viewing culture, stating, "Korean gamers chose the best GPUs to win, and that was NVIDIA." He gifted a GeForce RTX 5090 signed by him to T1’s 'Faker' Lee Sang-hyeok and presented vouchers for the company's proprietary 'RTX Spark' gaming laptop to two guests, effectively using the event as a platform for new product marketing.

Regarding the atmosphere at the event, COO Ahn said, "The entire team was thrilled." He added, "The players were excited to meet him, as they were well aware that CEO Jensen Huang has deep ties to the gaming industry, leads the world's most valuable company by market cap, and has a close relationship with SK Chairman Chey Tae-won."