Nvidia in Talks With Korean AI Chip Firm Rebellions on Investment or Acquisition

Nvidia is in preliminary discussions with South Korean AI chip designer Rebellions over a potential deal, with options ranging from technology cooperation and investment to a full acquisition. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang met Rebellions co-founder and CEO Park Sung-hyun at the company's Santa Clara, California headquarters this week. The talks remain at an early stage, and it is uncertain whether a deal will materialize. If completed, it would be Nvidia's latest investment in South Korea's AI ecosystem, following its $1 billion stake in internet company Naver in July.

Rebellions was founded in 2020 and is a core beneficiary of the South Korean government's "K-Nvidia" initiative. In March 2026, the Korea National Growth Fund invested 250 billion won, approximately $166 million, directly into Rebellions through the Advanced Strategic Industry Fund. To date, Rebellions has raised about $850 million in cumulative funding from investors including SK Hynix, Samsung Venture, and Arm Holdings, and carries a latest valuation of roughly $2.3 billion. Its flagship Rebel 100 NPU is manufactured on Samsung's 4-nanometer process, uses a chiplet architecture, and packs 144GB of HBM3E memory with about 2 PFLOPS of FP8 computing performance. The company has launched the RebelCard accelerator based on the chip and plans to list in South Korea in the first half of 2027, followed by a US listing.

In late 2025, Nvidia signed a non-exclusive licensing deal with AI chip startup Groq, gaining access to Groq's inference technology and absorbing most of its engineering talent, while Groq retained independent operations. That transaction drew scrutiny from US senators including Elizabeth Warren. Nvidia dominates the AI training chip market, and its outreach to Rebellions extends a familiar playbook of acquiring innovative technology through licensing and talent absorption. Rebellions' expertise lies in AI inference chips, a market that is expanding as AI moves from the training phase to large-scale deployment.

Nvidia's footprint in South Korea's AI ecosystem includes its $1 billion investment in Naver in July, making it Naver's third-largest shareholder, ongoing supply chain cooperation with Samsung and SK Hynix, and the current talks with Rebellions. As investors in Rebellions, both Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix will have a bearing on the direction of any potential deal.