National AI Strategy Committee Holds Emergency Review Meeting Over NVIDIA Leadership Change

[Financial News] The National AI Strategy Committee said it held an emergency review meeting on the 13th to respond to changes in the global AI industry landscape following a change in NVIDIA’s top leadership, and discussed the potential impact on South Korea’s AI industry and supply chains.
The meeting was organized after NVIDIA announced on the 12th that CEO Jensen Huang was resigning and Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress had been appointed interim CEO. It was intended to quickly assess possible changes in the global AI semiconductor and computing markets and proactively examine the potential impact on South Korea.
At the meeting, the committee focused on the stability of domestic GPU supply and procurement plans; the sustainability of existing cooperative projects between South Korean companies and NVIDIA; changes in global AI semiconductor supply chains and the technology development environment; and joint response measures by the government and private sector.
First, the committee reviewed progress on GPU procurement and AI computing infrastructure projects being pursued by the government and domestic companies, and examined the potential impact of NVIDIA’s leadership change on GPU delivery schedules, technical support, and future investment and cooperation plans.
Jinwoo Shin, chair of the committee’s Technology Innovation and Infrastructure Subcommittee, stressed, “This incident confirms that national AI infrastructure must be built to withstand management-related contingencies at any one company. While continuing our cooperation with NVIDIA unchanged, we need to increase the utilization rates of the GPUs we have secured, strengthen our ability to operate them, and broaden the range of available computing resources, including domestically developed AI semiconductors.”
Last year, the South Korean government and major companies announced plans with NVIDIA to expand AI infrastructure and pursue industrial cooperation, including the procurement of at least 260,000 GPUs in total. The committee agreed on the importance of ensuring these existing cooperative projects proceed without disruption and decided to continue monitoring the implementation of each project.
The committee also closely reviewed developments to help ensure the stable continuation of cooperative projects being pursued by domestic companies and NVIDIA in AI infrastructure, semiconductors, manufacturing AI, and physical AI. It also discussed the potential impact on the three mega-projects currently underway.
The committee also decided to examine the potential uses of various AI computing resources, including GPUs and NPUs, in preparation for changes in the global AI computing market, and to explore policy responses to strengthen the technological competitiveness of domestic AI semiconductor companies and secure stable supply chains.
The committee plans to use this meeting as an opportunity to strengthen information sharing and joint response mechanisms between the government and private companies. Through close cooperation between relevant ministries, including the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Ministry of Trade and Industry, and domestic semiconductor, AI infrastructure, and AI service companies, it intends to track the progress of major cooperative projects and identify difficulties. If necessary, it will develop support measures through consultation and coordination among relevant ministries.
Ha Jung-woo, the committee’s full-time vice chair, said, “We will work closely with relevant ministries and companies to proactively respond to the impact that changes in NVIDIA’s top leadership may have across the global AI industry.” He added, “To turn the uncertainty created by this change into new opportunities, we will link strategies to expand domestic AI infrastructure with efforts to foster the physical AI ecosystem and strengthen the competitiveness of our AI industry.”

[email protected] Yeon Ji-an Reporter