Amid Affair Scandal, Jensen Huang's Daughter abruptly cancels visit to Korea event

Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, saw his eldest daughter Madison Huang, senior director of product marketing for Omniverse and Robotics, cancel her scheduled visit to South Korea on the 7th, citing "family matters." The "Nvidia AI Day" event, at which she was expected to attend, went ahead as planned at COEX in Gangnam, Seoul, without her. Nvidia AI Day is the company's flagship global touring event, bringing together more than 2,000 partner representatives each year to exchange insights on AI technology and industry trends. Madison Huang's canceled trip came amid allegations of an extramarital affair raised against CEO Jensen Huang.

As a result, Madison Huang's planned meeting with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT Bae Kyung-hoon was called off, and a string of other engagements—including an event with Kakao Mobility and a visit to the headquarters of domestic AI startup Rebellions—were also canceled. The three-way memorandum of understanding (MOU, or partnership pledge) between Nvidia, SK Telecom, and Rebellions proceeded without her.

When reporters asked why the trip had been canceled, Nvidia declined to give a clear answer. Asked to explain why Madison Huang was not in attendance, Jesse Clayton, senior product marketing manager for AI infrastructure at Nvidia, merely replied, "We're very happy to be here."

Meanwhile, although the event itself proceeded as scheduled with presentations by Korean companies, the canceled visit left a mark on the government's and companies' in-person cooperation plans. Some point out that the incident could affect AI collaboration efforts between Nvidia, the government, and Korean companies going forward.