[Edaily Kim Kyeo-Re SOYEON KIM Reporter] The future of Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA, has emerged as a key variable in the global artificial intelligence (AI) industry. Critics point out that, despite the company’s technological prowess in dominating the AI semiconductor market, a management structure where authority is concentrated in the hands of a single founder is fueling uncertainty for both NVIDIA and the semiconductor supply chain. The South Korean semiconductor industry—including companies closely tied to NVIDIA, such as SamsungElectronics(005930)and SK hynix(000660) —also appears to be keeping a close eye on the upcoming leadership transition at NVIDIA.

◇ Consideration of CEO Jensen Huang’s Dismissal… CFO, Vice President, and Others Mentioned as Successors

On the 11th (local time), while NVIDIA’s board of directors is discussing the dismissal of CEO Huang, no clear pool of candidates for the next CEO has yet emerged. CEO Huang holds most of the authority within the company, receiving direct reports from more than 60 executives. Consequently, no specific succession plan for CEO Huang had been disclosed prior to the emergence of this issue.

According to Bloomberg, NVIDIA’s board is working with an external consulting firm to search for a successor while also considering appointing Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Colette Kress as interim CEO. Candidates officially mentioned to succeed CEO Huang include Ian Buck, vice president overseeing the data center and computing divisions, and Johnny Sruji, chief hardware officer (CHO), who led Apple’s in-house chip development.

Vice President Buck spent 22 years at NVIDIA, where he spearheaded the development of the “CUDA” platform and currently oversees the data center and computing divisions. CHO Johnny Srouji is hailed as a key figure in the “Apple Silicon” success story and has been mentioned as a potential CEO candidate for several major tech companies in the past.

This situation has escalated beyond a mere personal scandal to encompass national security, corporate governance, and supply chain issues. U.S. authorities are investigating whether AI semiconductors subject to export restrictions were funneled into China through Megaspeed, a company owned by Alice Huang, who was having an extramarital affair with CEO Huang. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is also looking into the allegations, and political pressure and legal risks are mounting.

NVIDIA shareholders have filed a class-action lawsuit alleging securities fraud, claiming that NVIDIA and CEO Huang failed to properly disclose the national security risks associated with Alice Huang. Reuters estimated that the decline in NVIDIA’s market capitalization resulting from this controversy could reach $600 billion (approximately 797 trillion won).

The board of directors’ supervisory responsibilities have also come under scrutiny. If it is revealed that the board failed to properly monitor national security risks or ignored warning signs, the directors could also face shareholder lawsuits. Depending on the results of the independent investigation, the issue could extend beyond CEO Huang’s personal liability to whether the board adequately controlled conflicts of interest among executives and business risks.

◇CEO Replacement Could Trigger Review of ‘Rotational Investment’… AMD and Broadcom Set to Benefit

However, even if a change in NVIDIA’s CEO becomes a reality, the company’s technological competitiveness and demand for AI semiconductors are not expected to be undermined. There is a possibility that the new CEO will reevaluate the AI infrastructure investment and customer support strategies previously spearheaded by CEO Huang.

NVIDIA has led a “circular investment” strategy that not only supplies graphics processing units (GPUs) but also provides funding to cloud companies and data center operators while collaborating with financial institutions to expand infrastructure investment. If the new management adjusts the scale of investment or the terms of financial support, it could affect customers’ data center construction and GPU purchase schedules.

The domestic semiconductor industry is also closely monitoring the development of next-generation GPUs and the supply schedule for high-bandwidth memory (HBM). SamsungElectronics and SK hynix are supplying HBM4, which is used in NVIDIA’s next-generation AI platform, “Vera Rubin.” HBM is a core component supplied only after performance and power efficiency have been coordinated and verified with memory manufacturers from the GPU design stage onward. If product development schedules or order volumes by company change following the management shake-up, the production plans and capital expenditures of SamsungElectronics and SK hynix will also be affected.

In particular, since expanding HBM production requires massive upfront investment, future order volumes, price negotiations, and the allocation of supply volumes are key concerns. SamsungElectronics is pushing to expand its market share with HBM4, while SK hynix is increasing its production capacity to maintain its existing market leadership. However, there have been no signs so far that HBM supply contracts have been canceled or production schedules disrupted due to the management controversy at NVIDIA.

The domestic memory industry’s high dependence on NVIDIA is also cited as a key variable. As a key customer in the global AI accelerator market, NVIDIA has driven the expansion of SamsungElectronics’ and SK hynix’s HBM businesses. Analysts suggest that if NVIDIA’s next-generation product launch schedule or purchasing strategy changes, the investment burden on domestic memory companies could increase.

There is also speculation that this situation could accelerate the diversification of supply chains in the AI semiconductor market. Cloud companies and data center operators may review the delivery schedules and supply volumes of existing contracts while simultaneously exploring procurement diversification by utilizing AMD products or AI semiconductors they have developed in-house. In after-hours trading that day, NVIDIA’s stock fell by more than 9% at one point during the session, while AMD and Broadcom rose by 4.5% and 2.9%, respectively.

An official from the domestic semiconductor industry stated, “Since large companies like NVIDIA operate on a systematic basis, we do not expect this to have an immediate impact on the domestic semiconductor industry,” but added, “We need to keep an eye on future developments.”