NVIDIA Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA) announced Monday a partnership with South Korean AI chipmaker Rebellions and SK Telecom Co. Ltd. (NYSE:SKM) to develop advanced artificial intelligence infrastructure in South Korea.

The announcement comes as NVIDIA shares fell nearly 5% in premarket trading after the company's board opened an independent investigation into reports that CEO Jensen Huang was targeted by a foreign intelligence effort.

NVIDIA Technology to Power Korean AI Chips

The collaboration will combine NVIDIA's NVLink Fusion technology, Rebellions' AI processors, and SK Telecom's data center capabilities.

The initiative aims to help South Korea build its own AI systems and reduce reliance on foreign technology for critical AI services.

Under the agreement, Rebellions plans to use NVIDIA NVLink Fusion to connect its next-generation Rebel R200 neural processing units (NPUs) to NVIDIA's AI infrastructure platform.

The company will also use NVIDIA's MGX rack architecture to develop large-scale AI systems.

Rebellions is designing its R200 processors to handle complex AI workloads while reducing energy use and response times.

NVLink Fusion will allow these processors to communicate through NVIDIA's high-speed networking technology.

The companies also plan to split AI processing tasks between NVIDIA GPUs and Rebellions NPUs to improve efficiency.

Rebellions expects its R200 systems to be ready for deployment in 2028.

SK Telecom to Expand Sovereign AI Infrastructure

SK Telecom plans to deploy the systems in its AI data centers.

The telecom operator will connect the infrastructure with its proprietary AI models, including A.X K2, and public-facing services under South Korea's "AI for All" initiative.

The project has support from South Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT.

NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang said the collaboration would help Korean chipmakers integrate their custom processors with NVIDIA's AI computing platform.

SK Telecom CEO Jung Jai-hun said the partnership would strengthen the company's ability to develop and operate domestic AI infrastructure.

The initiative reflects growing efforts by governments to build sovereign AI systems that support local languages, industries, and national priorities.

NVIDIA Board Opens Independent Investigation

Separately, NVIDIA's board launched an independent investigation after reports that a foreign intelligence effort targeted Huang.

A committee of independent directors, assisted by outside independent counsel, will oversee the review.

The board said it has no reason to believe U.S. national security or NVIDIA secrets were compromised but will examine all available information.

Huang supports the review and has committed to cooperating. The board added that it continues to have confidence in Huang and his leadership team.

CNBC's Eamon Javers, citing The New York Times, reported that Alice Huang, former CEO of NVIDIA customer Megaspeed, allegedly worked for China's Ministry of State Security and gathered intelligence on Huang and NVIDIA.

NVDA Price Action: NVIDIA shares were down 6.29% at $174.89 during premarket trading on Monday, according to market data.