The Trump administration has announced key investments and agreements with South Korea to strengthen U.S. exports, advance American leadership in technology and energy, and build up maritime partnerships.

How Will South Korea’s Maritime Investments Strengthen American Shipbuilding?

The White House said Wednesday President Donald Trump secured multibillion-dollar investments from South Korean companies to modernize and expand the capacity of the U.S. shipbuilding industry during the final stop of his Indo-Pacific trip.

HD Hyundai and Cerberus Capital Management will partner on a $5 billion investment program to upgrade U.S. shipyards, strengthen supply chains and advance the use of automation, digitalization, autonomous navigation and other new technologies.

Hanwha Ocean unveiled a $5 billion infrastructure plan to expand Pennsylvania’s Philly Shipyard workforce and boost production capacity. 

Samsung Heavy Industries will work with Vigor Marine Group on naval vessel maintenance, repair and overhaul efforts, as well as U.S.-flagged ship construction and shipyard automation initiatives.

What Will US-South Korea Technology Cooperation Deliver?

To advance innovation and strengthen technological leadership, the U.S. and South Korea are signing a Technology Prosperity Deal focused on artificial intelligence, 6G, biotech supply chains, research security and quantum innovation. 

Amazon will invest $5 billion through 2031 to develop South Korea’s cloud infrastructure, supporting U.S. exports and advancing the country’s leadership in AI.

According to the White House, NASA’s Artemis II mission will include the deployment of a Korean satellite to measure space radiation. Both countries have committed to diversifying the critical mineral supply chains through public-private partnerships.

South Korea’s air force tapped L3Harris Technologies for a $2.3 billion program to build an airborne warning and control aircraft. The agreement is expected to support more than 6,000 U.S. jobs.

NVIDIA has introduced NVQLink, an open system architecture designed to seamlessly integrate graphics processing unit, or GPU, computing with quantum processors, enabling the development of accelerated quantum supercomputers.

How Does NVQLink Advance Quantum Computing?

The artificial intelligence and accelerated computing company said Tuesday NVQLink aims to accelerate quantum computing by enabling low-latency, high-throughput connections between classical and quantum systems, supporting advanced applications across scientific and defense sectors. The platform delivers an open architecture for quantum integration, connecting 17 quantum processor developers, five controller developers and nine U.S. national laboratories.

Quantum computing’s building blocks—qubits—are highly sensitive and prone to errors, requiring precise calibration, error correction and control algorithms that depend on ultra-low latency and high-throughput links to classical supercomputers. NVQLink is built to provide this critical interconnect, creating the infrastructure to manage qubit performance and unlock transformative quantum applications across industries.

Which DOE National Laboratories Collaborated on NVQLink?

NVIDIA collaborated with researchers from the Department of Energy’s national laboratories — including Brookhaven, Fermilab, Berkeley, Los Alamos, MIT Lincoln, Oak Ridge, Pacific Northwest and Sandia — to develop the NVQLink platform. The laboratories will utilize the platform to drive breakthroughs in quantum computing.

Remarks From NVIDIA CEO

“In the near future, every NVIDIA GPU scientific supercomputer will be hybrid, tightly coupled with quantum processors to expand what is possible with computing,” said Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA. “NVQLink is the Rosetta Stone connecting quantum and classical supercomputers — uniting them into a single, coherent system that marks the onset of the quantum-GPU computing era.”

The Trump administration has outlined a set of U.S.-Japan agreements and investment commitments intended to strengthen cooperation across defense, manufacturing, energy, technology and supply chains.

Deepening US-Japan Defense Relationship

The White House said Tuesday that President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi committed to deepening the U.S.-Japan defense ties to strengthen deterrence in the Indo-Pacific region.

The U.S. accelerated deliveries of advanced medium-range air-to-air missiles for Japan’s F-35 fighter jets as part of efforts to improve deterrence and burden sharing along the First Island Chain.

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Science & Technology Initiatives

The U.S. and Japan also committed to advancing cooperation in science and technology through several landmark agreements. The two countries signed a memorandum of cooperation for the U.S.-Japan Technology Prosperity Deal to accelerate the adoption of AI and drive innovation.

Collaborative efforts will focus on pro-innovation AI policies, research security, 6G, quantum information science, fusion energy, biotechnology and pharmaceutical supply chains, and space technology. 

The two countries will establish a joint working group of government agencies to enhance mutual understanding of technical standards and requirements, drawing on U.S. expertise to promote secure and sovereign cloud development.

How Are US Manufacturing & Supply Chains Being Strengthened?

Japan committed billions of dollars to investments in U.S. critical infrastructure and manufacturing. This includes up to $332 billion to support the construction of small modular reactors, power plants, transmission systems, substations and other critical energy infrastructure. Other projects are optical fiber networks, energy storage systems and advanced electronic components. 

Critical minerals initiatives will support ammonia, urea and copper production in the U.S. Meanwhile, investments in ports, logistics and high-tech manufacturing facilities aim to expand export capacity and strengthen U.S. industrial supply chains. 

NASA and Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works division have conducted the initial flight test of the X-59, a supersonic aircraft designed to reduce the noise associated with sonic booms.

Lockheed said Tuesday the aircraft lifted off from the Skunk Works facility at U.S. Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California, for its maiden flight. It landed near the space agency’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California.

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Verifying the X-59 Aircraft’s Performance

The aircraft’s performance matched expectations during the flight, demonstrating its initial flying characteristics and air data performance before safely landing at its new facility.

“We are thrilled to achieve the first flight of the X-59,” said OJ Sanchez, vice president and general manager of Skunk Works. “This aircraft is a testament to the innovation and expertise of our joint team, and we are proud to be at the forefront of quiet supersonic technology development.”

Acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy described the aircraft as a “symbol of American ingenuity.”

“This work sustains America’s place as the leader in aviation and has the potential to change the way the public flies,” he added.

What Is the X-59?

The X-59 is designed to produce a gentle thump rather than a conventional sonic boom, which could allow commercial supersonic flights over populated areas in the future.

Flight testing over the coming months will expand the aircraft’s operational envelope, including its first supersonic flights to measure the sound signature and support community acceptance testing.

In July, NASA conducted a full-scale practice run to measure the noise produced by X-59 in preparation for the actual flight tests. In February, the agency performed electromagnetic testing to determine if the aircraft’s onboard systems would operate safely without interference.