South Korea expects its contracted Nvidia graphics processing units to arrive on schedule, a senior official said Monday. The comments came one day after Nvidia’s board opened an independent investigation tied to CEO Jensen Huang.
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. He said those chips were now in use.
GPUs planned for 2026 are under contract and are expected to enter service this year, Ryu said. “We expect production and the delivery schedule for contracted volumes to proceed without disruption,” he told lawmakers.
Ryu added that the ministry was closely monitoring developments. He said officials were discussing prices and schedules with Nvidia Korea.
Board Opens Investigation
Nvidia’s board said Sunday it had launched the probe after reports that Huang was targeted by a Chinese intelligence effort. The reports centered on his relationship with businesswoman Alice Huang, an executive at Nvidia customer Megaspeed.
The board said it had no reason to believe US national security or Nvidia secrets had been compromised. Jensen Huang said he would cooperate fully.
On the same day, Huang told Nvidia staff in a note that he had been unfaithful to his wife. The note did not name Alice Huang or directly address the reported relationship.
“Today’s news will not slow Nvidia,” a company spokesperson told Business Insider on Sunday. The spokesperson said Huang is committed to leading Nvidia as CEO without interruption.
The New York Times reported in late October that US intelligence officials believe Alice Huang was passing information to Beijing. She shares a last name with the Nvidia CEO but is not related to him.
Paper Trail at Megaspeed
Singapore corporate filings identify her as Huang Le, a Chinese national. Megaspeed International was incorporated in Singapore in 2015 as 7Road International and changed its name on March 7, 2023.
A day before that name change, she was appointed director and managing director, alongside another Chinese national, Cang Yang. Both resigned on November 10, 2023, according to the filings.
When she took the role, all shares in the Singapore entity moved to Huang Le Limited, a British Virgin Islands company. That November, ownership moved again to Swiftdata, a Singapore company that remains Megaspeed’s sole shareholder.
Before Megaspeed, she worked as an executive director at a Shanghai investment fund that had backed 7Road, according to the Times. The fund was connected to state-backed companies.
Megaspeed first drew scrutiny last year when the Times reported US authorities were examining whether it and a Malaysian affiliate helped Chinese firms access Nvidia AI chips despite export controls. Singapore’s Ministry of Home Affairs said in October that a police investigation into Megaspeed is ongoing.
The ministry said it had not investigated Alice Huang over alleged intelligence ties. Nvidia has described the CEO’s interactions with her as routine customer meetings, and Huang told Bloomberg they were “completely normal and not unusual.”
In South Korea, a planned visit by Madison Huang, the CEO’s daughter and an Nvidia senior director, was cancelled. AI startup Rebellions said her headquarters visit and a partner dinner were called off due to “unavoidable internal circumstances” at Nvidia.
Kakao Mobility also cancelled a photo session and question-and-answer event with her. It said a business agreement with Nvidia would go ahead with senior director Gaurav Agarwal attending instead.
Nvidia AI Day Seoul, a two-day event expected to draw about 2,000 participants, was proceeding as planned, according to South Korean media. Nvidia did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
