Seoul: U.S. tech giant Nvidia Corp. officials have expressed their intent to offer South Korea priority in supplying its next-generation Vera Rubin graphics processing units (GPUs), a senior Seoul official said Tuesday. Second Vice Science Minister Ryu Je-myung made such a remark in a social media post recalling his recent visit to Nvidia's headquarters in the U.S. after attending the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2026 in Las Vegas.

According to Yonhap News Agency, Ryu stated that Nvidia officials pledged early supply of its Blackwell GB300 GPUs, as well as priority supply to South Korea of the Vera Rubin series, which is scheduled to enter mass production in 2027. The vice minister said he was personally guided by Madison Huang, the daughter of Nvidia Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jensen Huang.

Ryu highlighted the significance of this agreement by noting, "As the opportunity to use the latest GPUs ahead of others plays a very important role in competition over AI models, such a promise is meaningful." This commitment aligns with Nvidia's October announcement to supply up to 260,000 GPUs to South Korea in partnership with the government and major companies to build large-scale AI factories in the country.

The vice minister also shared insights from his experience at CES, where he explored autonomous vehicles and observed increasing competition in related fields. He noted, "We are already facing a situation in which products and services across all sectors, including autonomous driving, robotics, digital health care and smart home solutions, cannot survive without a competitive AI foundation."