WEST LAFAYETTE — High-bandwidth memory from SK hynix (000660), the company leading the global artificial intelligence industry, will be produced in the United States for the first time three years from now. It also marks the first construction of a cutting-edge HBM fab in the U.S., the world's leading AI power. SK hynix said it will take the lead in Korea-U.S. AI cooperation by expanding memory supply and investment in the United States.
SK hynix held a groundbreaking ceremony for its Indiana fab on the 27th at Purdue University's Holloway Gymnasium in West Lafayette, Indiana. The ceremony drew key political and government figures from both countries, including Indiana Governor Mike Braun, U.S. Senator Todd Young, Purdue University President Mitch Daniels, Korean Defense Veterans Association Chairman Robert Abrams and South Korean Ambassador to the U.S. Kang Kyung-wha.
The Indiana fab is an advanced packaging production base that will manufacture HBM. Advanced packaging is a cutting-edge back-end semiconductor technology that stacks multiple chips to overcome the limits of shrinking chip size through finer processes. It will serve as SK hynix's first HBM production outpost in the U.S. and a core site employing about 1,000 workers.
Once the cleanroom is completed in October 2028, mass production of next-generation HBM will begin in the second half of 2029. Annual capacity is expected to reach several hundred thousand semiconductor wafers. Korean-made wafers produced in Yongin and Icheon will be shipped to the U.S., completed as "Made in USA" HBM at the Indiana fab and supplied directly to American customers.
The Indiana fab is the first step in SK hynix's contribution to stabilizing the U.S. semiconductor supply chain and to economic growth. SK hynix, which entered the New York market last month through an American depositary receipt listing, plans to accelerate its U.S. investment on the back of the Indiana fab, which has drawn more than $3.87 billion, or about 5.52 trillion won.
"SK hynix will become the most trusted partner in building the future of AI together," CEO Kwak Noh-jung said at the ceremony.
