Samsung, SK Hynix to sign major AI chip deals with US tech giants

Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix are set to sign major multi-billion-dollar supply agreements and strategic partnerships with leading U.S. technology companies.

The announcement was confirmed by Kim Yong-beom, policy chief for South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, ahead of the president's arrival in Silicon Valley for a high-profile AI summit.

The agreements between the semiconductor giants focus on long-term supply contracts for advanced High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) chips—the critical hardware component required to power AI data centers and next-generation GPUs.

South Korean President Lee’s visit to San Francisco is serving as a diplomatic and corporate catalyst, wrapping up long-running negotiations between South Korean chipmakers and U.S. tech firms.

Samsung and SK Hynix currently control roughly 80% of the global market for HBM chips. These multi-year commitments directly address global supply chain constraints while securing guaranteed memory capacity for U.S. hyperscalers as AI workloads continue to expand.

In addition to memory supply contracts, the deals will encompass joint investments in U.S. and domestic AI data center infrastructure and site development.

During the summit, South Korean leaders including Samsung Executive Chairman Jay Y. Lee and SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won are meeting directly with U.S. executives, including Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Anthropic founder Dario Amodei and Broadcom CEO Hock Tan.