How Asian governments responded to NVIDIA CEO's departure
What's the story
Jensen Huang's departure from NVIDIA has sparked varied reactions across Asia, with some governments confirming their commitment to chip supplies and others assessing the impact on local projects or ongoing investigations. The move comes after reports of a Chinese spy operation targeting Huang and his admission of an affair with Alice Huang, a former executive at Singapore-based chip company Megaspeed.
Diplomatic stance
China denies spy allegations, says NVIDIA's chip restrictions hurting AI
China's foreign ministry has denied allegations that a Chinese businesswoman linked to Huang was a spy, calling them baseless and an attempt to defame Beijing.
The ministry also opposed export controls disrupting global supply chains and denied knowledge of reports connecting restricted NVIDIA chips with a Shanghai data center linked to Alice Huang.
However, Huang's exit has raised concerns over more than $3 billion worth of Chinese AI computing projects dependent on NVIDIA's restricted processors.
Ongoing probe
Singapore's investigation into Alice Huang
In Singapore, authorities seized Alice Huang, former CEO of Singapore-based cloud computing company Megaspeed's passport in June 2025 as part of an investigation into possible false declarations regarding server purchases.
The probe looked into whether servers shipped from Singapore to Malaysia were later sent to other countries without proper declaration.
While police found insufficient evidence to prove offenses related to false declarations in February 2026, they said she had knowingly provided inaccurate information about her role at Megaspeed.
Market impact
South Korea and Taiwan react to Huang's departure
South Korea's Science Ministry said NVIDIA had reaffirmed its plan to supply 260,000 advanced GPUs to the country and to continue joint AI projects.
Meanwhile, Taiwan's Economy Minister Kung Ming-shin said Huang's departure was unlikely to significantly change the growth of the global AI industry.
Taipei's city government also confirmed that NVIDIA's planned overseas headquarters in Taipei remains on track despite this leadership change.
Vigilant approach
Japan to closely monitor NVIDIA after Huang's resignation
Japan's Industry Ministry has said it will closely monitor NVIDIA after Huang's resignation, considering the chipmaker a key player in Japan's AI semiconductor industry.
Deputy chief cabinet secretary Masanao Ozaki said it's too early to assess the impact on the global AI industry but emphasized Japan's commitment to ensuring a stable supply of semiconductors.