On Monday, SK Hynix and NVIDIA agreed to strengthen their long-term technology partnership. The collaboration aims to jointly develop next-generation memory for building a global artificial intelligence (AI) factory and to apply AI in semiconductor design and manufacturing.
SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won and NVIDIA Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jensen Huang reached this agreement during a meeting at the SK Searin Building in Seoul’s Jongno district.
The two companies decided to enhance their partnership, building on years of close collaboration in establishing a world-class AI computing platform.
Jensen Huang, NVIDIA’s CEO, stated that the AI factory is the engine driving the next industrial revolution, with advanced memory at its core. SK Hynix has been an exceptional partner, crucial in providing cutting-edge memory technology for NVIDIA’s AI computing platforms. Together, it’ll co-develop next-generation memory for AI factories and accelerate the expansion of global AI infrastructure, from frontier model training to agentic and physical AI.
Chairman Chey remarked that this partnership showcases the depth of collaboration between SK Hynix and NVIDIA. By jointly developing next-generation memory for AI factories and integrating AI into semiconductor design and manufacturing, they’re shaping the future of AI infrastructure together.
This long-term partnership ensures a stable supply of advanced memory, considering the extended development cycles involved. SK Hynix plans to consistently deliver memory solutions aligned with NVIDIA’s infrastructure roadmap and global AI infrastructure demands.
Notably, this partnership allows SK Hynix to enter new AI markets pioneered by NVIDIA, including AI infrastructure, personal AI, and physical AI. The companies will jointly develop memory for NVIDIA’s Vera Rubin AI supercomputer, Vera central processing unit (CPU), RTX Spark personal computer (PC), and Jetson Thor robotic computing platform.
The collaboration extends to advancing simulation technologies crucial for semiconductor development. SK Hynix will leverage NVIDIA’s CUDA-X library and PhysicsNeMo framework to enhance the speed and efficiency of simulation tasks in semiconductor design and manufacturing. This includes Technology Computer-Aided Design (TCAD) for analyzing semiconductor process characteristics and computational lithography techniques for precise semiconductor circuit implementation.
The partnership will expand across semiconductor design automation (EDA) and simulation fields. The companies aim to establish a triangular collaboration framework involving semiconductor manufacturers, NVIDIA, and EDA software firms to drive innovation in semiconductor development.
Enhancing digital twin technology, key to autonomous manufacturing, is another focus. The companies will explore integrating digital twin environments with existing manufacturing systems and AI-based workflows. SK Hynix anticipates this will enable AI to analyze fab operation data in real-time, automate processes, boost productivity and operational efficiency, and refine manufacturing decision-making.
Prior to this announcement, Chairman Chey met with SK Hynix CEO Kwak No-jung and President Kim Joo-sun, who oversees AI infrastructure, to discuss collaboration strategies with CEO Huang at a Kkanbu Chicken restaurant in Seoul’s Gangnam district.
During that meeting, Huang hinted that they’re here discussing plans, and there might be some announcements tomorrow. He also mentioned that this year, NVIDIA introduced the Vera CPU, which will incorporate SK Hynix’s memory.