Seoul's confirmation
Nvidia has reiterated its intention to supply up to 260,000 GPUs to South Korea, in collaboration with local companies, to build large-scale artificial intelligence infrastructure. The confirmation came from Science Minister Bae Kyung-hoon, who announced in a Facebook post that the commitment would be maintained, according to a report by The Korea Herald.
The plan had been announced last October. The agreement involves the South Korean government and some of the country's leading industrial groups, including Samsung Electronics, SK Group, Hyundai Motor Group and Naver Cloud. Each of these parties is expected to build its own AI computing center powered by Blackwell GPUs, the latest generation of processors from the American company.
The effect of the resignation
The minister's statement responds directly to concerns that followed Jensen Huang's resignation. Bae stressed that commercial cooperation will continue even after the manager's departure, specifying that the Ministry of Science held a meeting with Nvidia on the issues still open. The confirmation therefore serves to downplay fears of a possible freeze of the project.
The text does not specify the reasons for Huang's resignation or the date on which it occurred. It also does not indicate who will lead the company or how decision-making structures will change. These elements remain to be verified and are not covered by the available material, which is limited to recording the South Korean government's acknowledgment.
The uncertainties over memory suppliers
According to industry sources cited in the article, Huang's departure could change relations with South Korean producers of HBM memory, the high-bandwidth memory used in AI GPUs. There is talk of possible greater negotiating power for South Korean companies, but these are assessments by industry sources, not facts confirmed by the parties.
Similarly, projects promoted personally by Huang would have uncertain priority. Here too, the source does not provide details on which projects are involved or how they might be reorganized. The picture that emerges is of a commitment confirmed in substance, but with commercial terms and operational priorities still to be defined.
What remains to be clarified
The certain fact is the government's confirmation of a supply of up to 260,000 GPUs, with the direct involvement of Samsung, SK, Hyundai and Naver Cloud in building AI computing centers. However, delivery times, the economic value of the agreement, the distribution of the GPUs among the partners and the contractual arrangements with Nvidia are not known.
The episode comes in a context in which South Korea aims to equip itself with its own computing capacity for artificial intelligence, but the plan's durability will depend on how the American company redefines its governance after the departure of its longtime leader. The minister's confirmation is a political statement, not a publicly disclosed contract: its effectiveness will be measurable only with the actual start of supplies.
