SK Hynix Inc’s parent SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won, and Nvidia Corp cofounder Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) met on Wednesday to discuss artificial intelligence (AI), suggesting the two companies are exploring ways to deepen one of the most important relationships in AI hardware.
Chey and Huang talked about areas including moving AI into the physical realm. The leaders discussed SK Hynix’s high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips, which work with Nvidia’s AI accelerators. The South Korean company has been quickening its pace of development to make sure it keeps up with Nvidia’s demands for faster evolution, Chey told reporters at the annual CES in Las Vegas.
SK Hynix has become a leading provider of essential memory to Nvidia during the post-ChatGPT AI boom, pushing aside longtime rival Samsung Electronics Co.
Photo: Bloomberg
Huang has discussed extending AI into more of the physical world to develop tools that can “proceed, reason, plan and act.” It would transform industries worth US$50 trillion, according to Nvidia.
Chey said he told Huang at their meeting that South Korea, a manufacturing powerhouse, is uniquely positioned to work with Nvidia on that front.
Both companies have benefited from the insatiable appetite that major companies and governments have for Nvidia’s chips, the gold standard for training AI algorithms.
SK Group is focusing on AI data centers to drive future growth, part of a strategy to transform South Korea’s second-biggest conglomerate into a technology-driven business.
SK Hynix’s exhibition at CES highlighted the company’s most advanced HBM chips — 16-layer HBM3E — as well as enterprise data storage solutions for data centers.
Separately, the Dutch government said it is holding talks with Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices Inc regarding support for the construction of an AI facility in the Netherlands.
The facility would focus on the development and application of AI with the help of a supercomputer, according to a statement yesterday.
“Discussions were held with Nvidia about the delivery of hardware and support with knowledge in creating the required infrastructure,” it said.
The announcement came as Dutch Minister of Economic Affairs Dirk Beljaarts is visiting the US to strengthen cooperation between the Netherlands-based technology firms and US companies.
The ministry did not provide a timeline or specific details for the construction of the facility.
Elon Musk’s lieutenants have reached out to chip industry suppliers, including Applied Materials Inc, Tokyo Electron Ltd and Lam Research Corp, for his envisioned Terafab, early steps in an audacious and likely arduous attempt to break into the production of cutting-edge chips. Staff working for the joint venture between Tesla Inc and Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) have sought price quotes and delivery times for an array of chipmaking gear, people familiar with the matter said. In past weeks, they’ve contacted makers of photomasks, substrates, etchers, depositors, cleaning devices, testers and other tools, according to the people, who asked not to
The EU and US are nearing an agreement to coordinate on producing and securing critical minerals, part of a push to break reliance on Chinese supplies. The potential deal would create incentives, such as minimum prices, that could advantage non-Chinese suppliers, according to a draft of an “action plan” seen by Bloomberg. The EU and US would also cooperate on standards, investments and joint projects, as well as coordinate on any supply disruptions by countries like China. The two sides are additionally seeking other “like-minded partners” to join a multicountry accord to help create these new critical mineral supply chains, which feed into
Japan approved ￥631.5 billion (US$3.97 billion) in additional subsidies to hasten Rapidus Corp’s entry into the high-stakes artificial intelligence (AI) chipmaking arena, ramping up support for a project widely regarded as a long shot. The capital is intended to bankroll Rapidus’ work for information technology firm Fujitsu Ltd, one of the initial customers that Tokyo hopes would get the signature endeavor off the ground. The new money raises the fees and investments that the government is injecting into the start-up to ￥2.6 trillion by the end of the current fiscal year to March next year, the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and
The founder of Chinese property giant Evergrande Group (恆大集團) has pleaded guilty to charges of fraud and bribery, a court said yesterday, the latest blow for what was once the country’s leading developer. Evergrande’s rise was propelled by decades of rapid urbanization and rising living standards, but in 2020, its access to credit dramatically narrowed when the government introduced curbs on excessive borrowing and speculation. The company defaulted in 2021 after struggling to repay creditors. Founder Xu Jiayin (許家印), 67, known as Hui Ka Yan in Cantonese, was reportedly held by police in 2023, with Evergrande saying he had been subjected to
RSS