South Korea says Nvidia issues won't affect contracted GPU supplies


FILE PHOTO: NVIDIA logo and a keyboard in this illustration taken October 19, 2026. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

SEOUL, Nov 9 (Reuters) - South Korea ⁠expects contracted deliveries of Nvidia graphics processing units (GPUs) to proceed ⁠without disruption despite a controversy surrounding the chipmaker's chief executive Jensen ‌Huang, Seoul's deputy science minister said on Monday.

Vice Minister of Science and ICT Ryu Jemyung told a parliamentary budget committee that 10,000 GPUs funded under a 2025 supplementary budget had ​already arrived and were in use.

GPUs planned for ⁠2026 were under contract and ⁠expected to enter service this year, he said.

"We expect production and the ⁠delivery ‌schedule for contracted volumes to proceed without disruption," Ryu said, adding that the ministry was closely monitoring developments and discussing prices and ⁠schedules with Nvidia Korea.

Nvidia's board said on Sunday it ​had opened an ‌independent investigation after reports that CEO Jensen Huang had been targeted ⁠by a Chinese ​intelligence effort through his relationship with businesswoman Alice Huang.

The board said it had no reason to believe US national security or Nvidia secrets had been compromised, while ⁠Huang said he would cooperate fully.

News of ​the controversy coincided with the cancellation of a visit to South Korea by Huang's daughter Madison Huang, an Nvidia senior director.

South Korean AI startup Rebellions said ⁠her planned visit to its headquarters and a partner dinner were cancelled because of unavoidable internal circumstances at Nvidia.

Kakao Mobility also cancelled a photo session and question-and-answer event with her, but said a business agreement with Nvidia ​would proceed with senior director Gaurav Agarwal attending ⁠instead.

Nvidia AI Day Seoul, a two-day event expected to draw about 2,000 participants ​to discuss physical AI, agentic AI and infrastructure, ‌was proceeding as planned according to ​South Korean media.

Nvidia did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

(Reporting by Kyu-seok Shim and Heekyong YangEditing by Ed Davies)

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