Nvidia Expands AI Empire In South Korea With SK Hynix, SK Telecom And Naver Deals As Jensen Huang Locks I
Nvidia said it signed a multi-year technology partnership with SK Hynix to secure access to HBM memory for AI systems, Reuters reported. CEO Jensen Huang met SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won and said Nvidia buys “billions and billions” of dollars annually from SK Hynix and expects higher spending. SK Telecom plans a gigawatt-scale AI cloud platform using Nvidia tech, with a first data center in 2027. Nvidia shares fell 6.2% to $205.10 Friday.
HBM supply reinforcement via SK Hynix supports Nvidia’s AI systems ramp and reduces near-term memory bottleneck risk.
Nvidia announced a multi-year technology partnership with SK Hynix to secure HBM supply and said it expects SK Hynix spending to rise significantly.
Bullish bias; likely supports NVDA on supply-confidence and AI demand durability despite the cited selloff.
Background
Nvidia is expanding beyond GPUs into robotics, AI PCs, and supercomputing while memory suppliers race to meet AI-driven HBM demand.
Why it matters
The new multi-year SK Hynix partnership and management expectation of higher annual spend strengthen confidence in Nvidia’s AI supply chain. Separately, SK Telecom’s gigawatt-scale AI cloud plan provides a dated demand signal for Nvidia technology, though without deal size.
Market relevance
New supply-chain and deployment announcements (HBM partnership; gigawatt-scale AI cloud plan) are likely to reinforce AI demand confidence and NVDA sentiment.
Market effects
Reinforces the AI supply-chain narrative: memory (HBM) availability and hyperscale cloud buildouts remain key constraints and demand drivers.
Highlights South Korea as a strategic node for AI infrastructure buildouts (SK Group ecosystem) and memory supply.
Supports global AI capex expectations by linking major regional cloud/industrial players to Nvidia technology.
Alternative perspectives
The article lacks contract values and volume commitments; the market may already price Nvidia’s supply-chain strength, limiting incremental upside.
HBM pricing/supply dynamics and customer capex timing could still dominate near-term results even with multi-year partnerships.
Key entities
- companyNvidia
Announced a multi-year technology partnership with SK Hynix for HBM access and expects spending to increase.
- companySK Hynix
Memory partner expected to remain Nvidia’s largest memory supplier under the new multi-year arrangement.
- companySK Telecom
Plans gigawatt-scale AI cloud infrastructure using Nvidia technology; first AI data center targeted for 2027.
- companyNaver
Said it will use Nvidia technology to support AI data center expansion and industrial AI applications.
