Nvidia ouster threat puts $510 billion Korea AI ties at risk

Amara Osei

At least $510 billion, or 680 trillion won, in Korean Nvidia partnerships could change direction if the chipmaker's board removes Chief Executive Jensen Huang, industry sources said.

The Wall Street Journal reported on the 11th that the board planned to convene as early as that day to decide his fate. Nvidia had earlier launched an independent investigation into allegations involving the chief executive.

Over the past year, Korean companies have moved beyond straightforward chip supply into joint ventures worth hundreds of trillions of won, equity investments and technology co-development. The market calls the leadership exposure "Jensen Huang risk," with potential effects extending beyond semiconductors to self-driving cars, humanoid robots and data centers.

An industry official said: "The AI chip supply chain has high technological interdependence, so relationships are hard to shake in the short term." The official added that management's strategic judgment could introduce variables in early-stage investment and the setting of technical standards, including AI factories, humanoids and autonomous driving.

What does a leadership change put at risk?

The scope, pace and direction of those agreements could shift depending on the next management team's judgment.

Huang has set the technological direction of the AI chip market and met governments and companies worldwide to secure large-scale investment. His meetings with Korea's major conglomerates drove plans covering chip supply, AI infrastructure and physical AI.

Existing supply relationships will probably survive, but new project plans may change.

Which commitments carry the most weight?

• SK Group, the largest exposure: A July letter of intent covers AI infrastructure and next-generation memory worth more than $500 billion, or 667 trillion won. SK Telecom would build an AI factory of up to 2 gigawatts on Nvidia's next-generation platform, while SK hynix would jointly develop and supply HBM.
• NAVER: Nvidia completed a $1 billion payment, or 1.3412 trillion won, for a 4.13% stake on the 6th, becoming the third-largest shareholder. Its global AI factory pairs that investment with up to $9 billion from Brookfield for computing infrastructure.

NAVER is expanding its Sejong data center and seeking to grow a business that supplies graphics processing units as a service. SK hynix would participate in AI chip design rather than only ship memory. In February, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won met Huang to discuss AI chip and infrastructure cooperation, and the two sides have steadily widened the business scope since.

The largest commitments now include equity funding and planned infrastructure construction, rather than chip supply alone.

How do robotics and mobility plans fit?

• LG Group: An August memorandum of understanding covers robotics, AI factories and future mobility, with Chairman Koo Kwang-mo and Huang present. LG Electronics says it will unveil a next-generation bipedal robot in the first quarter of next year using Nvidia's humanoid foundation model, Isaac GR00T.

LG Electronics and Nvidia are running a joint task force that combines LG's manufacturing capability with Nvidia's robotics AI technology.

• Hyundai Motor Group: A closed-door meeting between Chairman Euisun Chung and Huang at CES 2026 in Las Vegas in January covered self-driving cars and other future mobility. Hyundai Motor subsequently announced plans to apply Level 2+ autonomous driving based on Nvidia's platform to mass-production vehicles in the first half of 2028.

Samsung Electronics has expanded cooperation on HBM supply and digital twin technology, and Chairman Jay Y. Lee has met Huang several times.

Doosan Robotics is developing a robot operating system on Nvidia's physical AI technology. Doosan Group is extending cooperation into AI-factory power infrastructure and semiconductor materials, while Kakao Mobility has signed an MOU on Level 4 autonomous driving.

These projects extend Nvidia's role from chip supplier to platform partner in physical AI.

What would survive a leadership change?

The prevailing industry view is that the partnerships will not suffer an immediate hit even if Huang leaves. SK hynix's HBM remains essential to Nvidia's AI accelerators, making a rapid supply-chain change difficult.

AI factories and next-generation development plans remain at the investment and construction stage, where a new management team could change investment, schedules and technical support.

NAVER's Brookfield financing and Nvidia's equity investment have entered execution, so Huang's removal alone is unlikely to derail them. A review of AI-factory profitability or overseas expansion could still change the pace of further investment, construction schedules and technical support.

For LG, the departure would not immediately cancel the robot unveiling, but it could alter the project's symbolic weight and follow-up cooperation strategy. The strategic priority assigned to LG's AI factory and physical AI expansion could also change. For Hyundai, the need for joint work on in-vehicle AI and autonomous driving would survive, while platform timelines, support systems and long-term strategy face new uncertainty.

Whether Huang remains on the board and retains influence, and whether his successor inherits the partnerships, will determine how widely the effects spread.

The next chief executive's investment priorities will set the pace for AI factories, robots and autonomous-driving programs.