Correction: apparently there is no i2c_nvidia_smi module. nvidia-smi is a command line monitoring tool.
Browsing https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=206653 it seems that i2c_nvidia_gpu is for cards with USB type C controllers, which apparently all cards from 2019 on have, even if the a physical port is not present.
Coincidentally or not, the problem with the second monitor (HDMI) getting no signal that I mentioned above is one consequence. Also, my USB2 mouse and kbd do not work at the grub screen. I either wait for the timeout or remove and reconnect the dongles. Weird, and might not be related to this thread issue.