Jensen Huang is no longer the CEO of NVIDIA. On November 12, the chipmaker announced that its co-founder had stepped down as president, CEO and board member with immediate effect, 33 years after starting the company. For Hyundai Motor Group, that is not just tech-world gossip. In less than two years, the group has built much of its software, autonomous driving and robotics plan on NVIDIA hardware, and a big part of that relationship ran through Huang and Executive Chair Euisun Chung personally.
Below we look at what happened, what it could mean for the deals Hyundai has already signed, and the uncomfortable question many in Korea are asking: could any Hyundai information have reached the woman U.S. officials reportedly believe is a Chinese spy?
What Happened At NVIDIA
According to NVIDIA's filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, CFO Colette Kress will act as interim CEO while the board looks for a permanent replacement. Former Synopsys CEO Harvey Jones becomes NVIDIA's first board chair. The company did not give a reason for the resignation.
The exit follows days of pressure. On November 9, Huang admitted in a memo to employees that he had an extramarital relationship with Alice Huang, a businesswoman linked to Singapore data center company Megaspeed, and NVIDIA's board opened an independent investigation. CNBC later reported a second relationship, with an NVIDIA vice president. NVIDIA shares fell nearly 10% after the announcement, and U.S. lawmakers have asked Huang for a closed-door briefing.
Who Is Alice Huang, And What Is Confirmed
This is where it is important to separate facts from allegations. In late October, The New York Times reported that U.S. intelligence officials had concluded that Alice Huang was an asset of China's Ministry of State Security. That has not been confirmed publicly. China's foreign ministry called the reports "baseless", Singapore said it never investigated her, and her whereabouts are unknown, as Korea JoongAng Daily summarised.
What is confirmed is the relationship itself, which Huang admitted, and that Megaspeed bought large amounts of NVIDIA hardware. Megaspeed has also been under U.S. investigation over claims that it helped move NVIDIA chips to China, which the company denies. NVIDIA has said it has no reason to believe company secrets or U.S. national security were compromised.
Everything Hyundai Motor Group Has Signed With NVIDIA
Hyundai and NVIDIA go back to 2020, when the group chose NVIDIA DRIVE for its connected car platform. But the relationship really took off in the last two years:
January 2025: at CES, the two companies signed a strategic partnership covering autonomous driving, smart factories and robotics, using NVIDIA Omniverse, Cosmos and DRIVE.
October 2025: the day after the famous fried chicken and beer dinner in Seoul with Chung, Huang and Samsung's Lee Jae-yong, Hyundai announced an AI factory with 50,000 NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs, part of a joint investment of around $3 billion in physical AI in Korea.
March 2026: Hyundai and Kia expanded the partnership to NVIDIA DRIVE Hyperion, with Level 2+ driver assistance for mass-production cars and Level 4 robotaxis through Motional.
2026 robotics push: NVIDIA simulation tools are behind the training of robots like Boston Dynamics' Atlas, which Hyundai plans to put to work in its plants.
Hyundai has also said it will put NVIDIA-based Level 2+ autonomous driving into production cars in the first half of 2028. On top of that, Huang visited Hyundai Motor Group's headquarters in Seoul in June, and Chung visited NVIDIA in Santa Clara in July. Few car companies had such direct access to Huang.
How Huang's Exit Could Affect Hyundai
In the short term, probably very little. The contracts are with NVIDIA, not with Huang, and Korean officials expect GPU deliveries to continue as planned. NVIDIA still needs customers like Hyundai, and Hyundai still needs NVIDIA chips.
The medium term is less clear. According to Seoul Economic Daily, NVIDIA's deals with Korean companies add up to at least $510 billion, and the projects that are still at an early stage, such as AI factories, humanoid robots and autonomous driving, are the ones most exposed to a change in strategy. An industry official told the paper that, in autonomous driving, "management's strategic judgment could introduce variables". In other words, a new CEO could change priorities, timelines or the support Hyundai gets for its platform.
There is also the personal side. Korean media called the relationship between Huang and Korea's business leaders the "kkanbu alliance", and Chung was a big part of it. That direct line to the top of NVIDIA is now gone, at least until the board picks a permanent CEO.
Could Hyundai Information Have Reached Alice Huang?
This is the question everyone is asking, and the honest answer is that, as of today, there is no evidence that it did. We have not found any report saying that Hyundai data, plans or technology were shared with Alice Huang or Megaspeed, and NVIDIA insists that no company secrets were compromised. Hyundai has not made any public statement on the matter either.
Still, the concern is understandable. Huang's contacts with Alice Huang reportedly began in early 2024, so they overlap with the period in which Hyundai and NVIDIA signed their biggest agreements. As NVIDIA's CEO, Huang knew Hyundai's plans at a very high level: the size of the AI factory, the autonomous driving roadmap and the timing of the robotics programmes. What he could not easily access is Hyundai's own engineering data, which is managed by Hyundai's teams.
An industry official told The Korea Times that if the investigation finds "technology leaks or other security issues" connected to NVIDIA's business, Korean companies may need to review their plans. Meanwhile, Samsung and SK hynix have tightened security training, and Korean politicians are pushing again for a dedicated industrial espionage law.
Our Take
The biggest risk for Hyundai is not a leak that, so far, nobody has proven. It is time. Hyundai has bet heavily on NVIDIA to catch up in autonomous driving and robotics, and any slowdown or change of direction at NVIDIA would hit exactly the projects that matter most for the group's future, starting with the 2028 Level 2+ system.
On the other hand, Hyundai is one of NVIDIA's most important industrial partners in Asia, and whoever becomes the next CEO will want to keep it that way. We expect Hyundai to stay quiet, wait for the results of the investigation and the CEO search, and keep working with NVIDIA's engineering teams as usual. We will update this story if Hyundai or NVIDIA say anything about their partnership.
Sources: NVIDIA (SEC filing), CNBC, The New York Times via Korea JoongAng Daily, The Korea Times and Seoul Economic Daily. Alice Huang's alleged links to Chinese intelligence have not been confirmed.
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