South Korea expects contracted Nvidia chip deliveries to proceed as scheduled despite an independent investigation into allegations that Chief Executive Jensen Huang was targeted by foreign intelligence, offering reassurance for a national AI expansion tied closely to the U.S. company.
Second Vice Minister of Science and ICT Ryu Je-myung told a parliamentary budget committee Monday that 10,000 government-funded graphics processing units ordered under a 2025 supplementary budget were already operating. Deliveries under 2026 contracts were underway, with those chips expected to enter service this year.
The ministry is monitoring developments and discussing pricing and delivery schedules with Nvidia Korea, The Korea Herald reported. The government purchases the chips through server suppliers such as Hewlett Packard rather than directly from Nvidia.
Those procurement contracts are separate from Nvidia's broader October 2025 announcement that it planned to supply more than 260,000 advanced AI chips to South Korea's government and major businesses. No disruption to either the contracted deliveries or the country's Nvidia-powered projects has been established.
The company's Korean expansion continued this week. At Nvidia AI Day Seoul on Nov. 9 and 10, Nvidia, SK Telecom and Korean chip designer Rebellions announced plans to connect Rebellions' next-generation neural processing units with Nvidia infrastructure through NVLink Fusion technology.
SK Telecom intends to use the proposed systems in its AI data centers. The announcement covers future integration and deployment, rather than systems already in operation.
Kakao Mobility separately agreed to work with Nvidia on Level 4 autonomous driving technology, initially involving Kia purpose-built vehicles. Nvidia also completed a $1 billion investment in Naver on Nov. 6, acquiring a 4.13% stake, according to a South Korean regulatory filing.
That investment supports an AI factory venture announced in June and subsequently expanded with Brookfield's participation. No change to the venture has been announced in connection with the investigation.
Nvidia's board opened its inquiry Nov. 8 following reports linking Huang to a businesswoman whom U.S. officials reportedly suspected of passing information to Chinese intelligence. Independent directors appointed former acting U.S. attorney Joon H. Kim and law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz to conduct the investigation on Nov. 10.
Huang acknowledged marital infidelity in a message to employees and pledged to cooperate. The board said it had no reason to believe company secrets or U.S. national security had been compromised. China has rejected the espionage allegations, which remain unproven.
Three Republican House committee chairmen have requested a closed-door briefing with Huang on Nov. 18, Reuters reported. Nvidia was asked to accept that date or propose an alternative by Nov. 11. The requested meeting would follow its scheduled quarterly earnings report on Nov. 17.
Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, which supply high-bandwidth memory for Nvidia's AI accelerators, remain exposed to changes in U.S. chip-export policy. No new restrictions tied to the Huang inquiry have been announced.
Madison Huang, the chief executive's daughter and a senior product marketing director, canceled her planned Seoul visit. Sources cited family reasons, while Nvidia AI Day proceeded without her. No confirmed evidence connects the cancellation to the intelligence allegations.
