Chey Tae-won: "Tens of Billions to Be Invested in U.S. AI and Data Centers... Memory Fab Also Under Review"

Chey Tae-won Interviewed by CNBC
SK hynix Listed on Nasdaq

Chey Tae-won, Chairman of SK Group, announced in the United States that the group could invest tens of billions of dollars in artificial intelligence (AI), data centers, related technologies, and startups. He also left open the possibility of building a memory semiconductor manufacturing plant in the U.S., but specified that this would depend on meeting certain conditions such as power supply, water, workforce, and supply chain infrastructure.

SK Chairman Chey Tae-won attending the SK hynix ADR listing ceremony. Photo by Yonhap News

In a CNBC interview on July 10 (local time) marking SK hynix’s Nasdaq listing, Chairman Chey was asked about additional investment plans in the United States. He said, “We are anticipating investments of at least tens of billions of dollars in the AI sector.”

He clarified, “This is a different investment from memory semiconductors,” and explained, “We are reviewing various types of investments, including AI and AI data centers, related technologies and startups, as well as joint ventures with partners.” He added, “We expect a large-scale investment to be made in the near future.”

He also mentioned the possibility of building a memory semiconductor fab in the United States. Chairman Chey said, “It is not easy to build a memory fab,” and emphasized, “It requires power, clean water, land, workforce, and a supply chain ecosystem.” He stated, “If these conditions are met, there is no reason why we cannot build in the United States.”

However, he made it clear that the project is still in its early review stage. Chairman Chey said that to find a suitable production base, “We are looking not only in the United States but around the world,” and added, “If we find a suitable location in the United States, it could be there.”

SK hynix is currently pursuing plans to build an advanced packaging facility in Indiana, United States, with an investment of 4 billion dollars. CNBC reported that the Trump Administration has requested SK to make additional investments in the U.S.

Chairman Chey emphasized that demand for memory semiconductors is increasing in a new way due to the spread of AI. He said, “In the past, memory semiconductor demand depended on population size or the number of hardware devices, but in the AI era, vast amounts of memory are needed for AI agents, physical AI, and robots.”

He continued, “Demand is increasing exponentially,” and said, “We announced a plan to double our production capacity within five years, but our customers say that even this is not enough and that they need even more supply.”

Asked whether moves by customers to reduce HBM usage could weaken demand, he replied, “We are not seeing any signs that HBM demand is decreasing.” He added, “All our partners want more supply and have requested us to expand our production capacity this year and next year.”

Regarding competition from Samsung Electronics in the HBM market, he emphasized the current supply shortage rather than direct competition. Chairman Chey explained, “There is a fundamental shortage in supply at the moment. As AI usage increases and token generation grows, KV cache is needed to store this, which ultimately drives up memory demand.”

On the price terms of long-term supply contracts, he revealed a policy of customizing contracts for each customer. He said, “Some customers want terms linked to market prices, while others want fixed prices for stability,” and added, “We do not apply a uniform rule but design long-term contracts tailored to each customer.”

Regarding U.S. concerns about SK hynix’s production facilities in China, he refuted, “There is a bit of misunderstanding.” Chairman Chey said, “More than 70% of the output from our two fabs in China is exported outside China, mainly for U.S. customers.” He continued, “Less than 30% is supplied to the local Chinese market, and we comply with U.S. export control policies.”

Chairman Chey described SK hynix’s U.S. stock market listing as “a truly historic moment,” and noted, “It is a dream come true 15 years after SK acquired Hynix.”

He expressed hope that the U.S. listing would improve access to global capital markets and help secure talent. Chairman Chey explained, “We will have more options to utilize in terms of investment and finance. Having stock options based on U.S. shares will also be advantageous for recruiting talent in the U.S. and globally.” He also noted that with the influx of new U.S. and global shareholders, “We will need to establish a new type of governance system.”

Meanwhile, SK hynix set the public offering price of its American Depositary Shares (ADS) at 149 dollars per share, raising 26.5 billion dollars. The offering attracted demand more than seven times the number of shares issued. Before trading began on the day, the market anticipated that the initial price of SK hynix ADR would be around 180 dollars, over 20% higher than the offering price.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.