Nvidia Pledges to Supply 260,000 GPUs... National AI Strategy Committee's Im Moonyeong: "Aiming for Top Three, Not Third Place"

"GPUs Are the Core Components in the AI Era"
"Nvidia Effectively Holds a Monopoly on GPUs"
"Support for SMEs and Startups"

Im Moonyeong, Executive Vice Chairperson of the National AI Strategy Committee, emphasized Nvidia's pledge to supply more than 260,000 GPUs (graphics cards) to the Korean government and companies, stating, "What we hope for is not to be in third place, but to become one of the top three global leaders."

On November 3, during an appearance on MBC Radio's "Kim Jongbae's Focus," Im said, "Including the 260,000 units secured this time, the total number of GPUs will reach about 300,000, which puts us at the third-largest scale globally." He added, "However, the United States has around 10 million units, so being third does not carry much significance. We need to prepare infrastructure on a much larger scale than we have now."

He also described GPUs as "the core components attracting attention in the AI era," and noted, "Nvidia's software platform CUDA is so powerful that other companies cannot easily catch up, so in effect, Nvidia has a monopoly." He continued, "Securing Nvidia's latest GPUs has become the most important task for AI advancement worldwide. The United States and other major developed countries are competing to acquire them, and in China, they cannot even be sold. In such a difficult situation, the bottleneck has been resolved."

Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, is giving a speech at the final special session of the APEC CEO Summit held at Gyeongju Arts Center in Gyeongju, Gyeongsangbuk-do on October 31, 2025. Photo by Kang Jinhyung

Im also spoke about Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, saying, "He has a deep connection with Korea. During the IMF financial crisis, many retirees started PC cafes, which played a significant role in helping Korea overcome the crisis. As PC cafes increased, gaming became popular, and Korea played a major role in the global activation of e-sports. With the rise of gaming, graphics cards started to attract attention, and Nvidia grew in line with that trend."

Regarding the background for Nvidia's active support for Korea, he explained, "With the launch of the new administration, political stability was achieved, and as President Lee Jaemyung pursued an AI-driven economic growth policy, major global tech companies began to focus on Korea."

Im stressed, "This is the first time the government has purchased a large volume of GPUs. For small and medium-sized enterprises, startups, and university research institutions, it is difficult to conduct research or create new services without GPUs. To support these sectors, public sector assistance is essential." He added, "The government plans to use the GPUs recently brought in for national flagship AI development projects and the National AI Computing Center."