Intel in talks to bring SK Hynix memory production to the US
The Korean chipmaker could lease part of Intel's delayed Ohio complex as Washington pressures Asian semiconductor companies to manufacture in America.
South Korea's SK Hynix is in exploratory talks with Intel about manufacturing memory chips in the United States for the first time, potentially using part of Intel's long-delayed chipmaking complex in Ohio, according to Reuters.
The talks come as soaring demand for artificial intelligence and data centers fuels a shortage of memory chips and the Trump administration pressures Asian semiconductor companies to expand production in the United States. But the proposal faces a potentially significant obstacle at home as South Korea may oppose the transfer of sensitive memory technology and production to the United States.
Under one scenario, SK Hynix would lease part of Intel's Ohio facility. Under another, the companies could form a venture with major cloud companies seeking to secure memory supplies, Reuters said. No decisions have been made, and it remains unclear what type of memory SK Hynix might manufacture in Ohio.
An agreement could help put Intel’s troubled Ohio project to use and ease some of the financial pressure on a company that is now partly owned by the U.S. government. For SK Hynix, however, manufacturing memory chips in the United States would come with significantly higher labor and construction costs than in South Korea, while much of the semiconductor supply chain remains concentrated in Asia.
What SK Hynix would actually manufacture in Ohio could determine whether the proposal becomes politically viable.
The company produces DRAM, a type of memory used in servers, personal computers and smartphones, as well as NAND flash memory used for long-term data storage. It is also the leading supplier of high-bandwidth memory, or HBM, which is used in AI processing units.
Any agreement involving advanced memory such as HBM, or even DRAM, could face opposition from the South Korean government because the technologies are considered sensitive.
SK Hynix said in a statement to Reuters that it is "reviewing various measures, including establishing additional production bases, to strengthen the competitiveness of its memory business," but that "no matters have been determined at this stage."
Intel declined to comment on what it called speculation, but said it was continuing its investments to prepare the Ohio site.
South Korea's trade ministry said any decision to produce chips in the United States would be at SK Hynix's discretion. If such a move involved a "national core technology," however, it would be subject to review under the country's Industrial Technology Protection Act.
The U.S. Commerce Department did not respond to a request for comment.
Reuters contributed to this report.
