AI Boom Drives Memory Demand as Tech Giants Offer to Fund SK Hynix Expansion
Generative AI and data-center expansion are driving demand for high-bandwidth memory, with tight supply making SK Hynix a critical supplier. Microsoft, Meta and Alphabet had offered a combined investment of about $10 billion to secure chipmaking capacity, underscoring how technology giants are intervening directly in upstream expansion and supply-chain planning.
As of July 20, 2026, SK Hynix had rejected the technology giants' $10 billion investment proposal and turned it into leverage in supply negotiations. The company is negotiating long-term supply agreements and is also considering asking customers for advance payments to share the cost of EUV equipment and capacity expansion. Related reports have not disclosed a formal signing date or each company's proposed share of the investment.
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The history behind this eventSK Chairman Presses Kioxia for Deeper Ties, Threatens Exit
AI-driven demand for high-bandwidth memory and NAND flash has tightened global supply, pushing SK hynix to consider capacity beyond South Korea. The chipmaker invested about 4 trillion won in Kioxia in 2018 through a Bain Capital-led consortium, giving it an indirect economic interest in the Japanese NAND producer. That link carries strategic weight: the companies compete in flash memory, but closer production, research and supply-chain coordination could help SK hynix add capacity faster as AI infrastructure spending accelerates.
In an interview published by Asahi Shimbun on Sept. 2, 2026, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won said the group was weighing memory-chip plants overseas, including Japan, and expected to outline specific investment plans by year-end. He said joint production with Kioxia was an option, alongside shared R&D and supply chains. Chey made continued backing conditional on a deeper operating relationship: if Kioxia does not include SK hynix in its future strategy and no cooperation can be built, SK will end the investment. No factory site, spending figure or withdrawal timetable was disclosed.
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