[NC] Growing Challenges Amid Strengthening NVIDIA Alliance: "Sovereign AI Must Be Secured"

Closed-Door Meeting with Startups and Government
NVIDIA Courts Korea for Its Full-Stack Capabilities
Checks and Balances as Non-NVIDIA Alliances Expand

Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA, gave a thumbs-up while answering questions from reporters as he departed through the Seoul Gimpo Business Aviation Center on the 9th after completing his visit to Korea. Photo by Yonhap News.

Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA, spent five days in Korea, a visit that is widely interpreted as having both elevated Korea's status as a key partner in the global artificial intelligence (AI) supply chain and underscored the necessity for Korea to secure its own independent technological capabilities. As global AI competition shifts from pure model performance to infrastructure, experts say Korea—with its full-stack capabilities—should not only strengthen its alliance with NVIDIA but also proactively move to establish sovereign AI capabilities.

According to the IT industry on June 9, CEO Huang, after meeting with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT Baek Kyunghoon and leading startup figures at the closed-door "Korea AI Ecosystem Reception" held at the Shilla Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul, the previous evening, stated, "Korea is a fantastic place to invest in the future of AI" and expressed "strong confidence in Korea's AI capabilities."

Describing the event as "an occasion that unites the AI ecosystem," CEO Huang emphasized, "Over the next five years, hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue will flow into Korea," adding, "This is because Korea has established partnerships with NVIDIA across every layer of the AI ecosystem—from energy to chips, infrastructure, robotics, and applications."

Deputy Prime Minister Baek also told reporters after the event, "We have agreed that Korea will be the top priority to receive NVIDIA's 'Vera Rubin,'" and added, "NVIDIA has committed to actively supporting Korea in becoming a global leader in the field of physical AI." Regarding the potential for hosting NVIDIA's global AI developer conference, GTC, in Korea, Deputy Prime Minister Baek said, "We had very positive discussions about GTC Korea," and added, "Since Korea could become the largest buyer of NVIDIA's graphics processing units (GPUs), NVIDIA has also decided to invest in the AI ecosystem together with the Korean government."

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT Baek Kyung-hoon and Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA, are seen speaking together on stage at the "NVIDIA Korea AI Ecosystem Reception" held on the 8th at the Shilla Hotel's Royal Banquet Hall in Jung-gu, Seoul. Provided by the Ministry of Science and ICT. Photo by Yonhap News.

During his visit, CEO Huang met with leaders of major companies such as Samsung, SK, Hyundai Motor, LG, Naver, Doosan, Krafton, and NC, as well as prominent AI startup figures, in a move interpreted as both exercising AI-based influence and strategically working to create an NVIDIA-centered ecosystem.

With an urgent need to boost GPU demand and expand contact points within the AI ecosystem, NVIDIA actively sought cooperation with Naver—which possesses its own AI models and cloud infrastructure. CEO Huang also held a series of meetings with leaders of game companies expanding into AI content creation and other businesses, aiming to cultivate the gaming industry as a major source of AI demand. As companies like Naver emphasize sovereign AI capabilities, both tension and collaboration with Korea—which boasts full-stack AI capabilities—are seen as increasingly essential.

Although NVIDIA currently commands an overwhelming share of the AI accelerator market, it is worth noting that a non-NVIDIA camp has been expanding due to concerns over NVIDIA's monopoly. Earlier, in March, Lisa Su, CEO of AMD, visited Korea during the NVIDIA annual developer conference (GTC 2026) and met with local corporate leaders, signaling the formation of alliances between NVIDIA and non-NVIDIA camps in the AI semiconductor market.

Furthermore, Google is reducing its dependence on NVIDIA with its own Tensor Processing Unit (TPU) chips, while companies like Amazon and Meta are developing their own AI chips—factors that inevitably pose threats to NVIDIA. In Korea as well, AI semiconductor startups such as Rebellions and FuriosaAI are targeting niche markets.

Park Jin-ho, Professor of Computer and AI at Dongguk University, commented, "An AI alliance with NVIDIA could allow Korea to quickly establish itself among the top three nations in AI," adding, "It is not a one-sided relationship, as NVIDIA also needs to secure new markets and customers in Korea as its existing markets reach their limits." He continued, "CEO Huang is expanding cooperation with Korean firms to create and manage competition among partners. While for now it is necessary to keep pace by partnering with a giant that possesses monopolistic technology, Korea should also pursue a two-track strategy by investing in and researching sovereign AI production at the national level to prevent monopoly and dependence."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.