GoKawiil
Tech News
OpenAI Korea's Harrison Kim disclosed that OpenAI and Samsung are collaborating on production and research for next-generation chips, though he gave no specifics on the chips or Samsung's exact role. He also revealed Samsung has become one of the largest global enterprise deployments of ChatGPT, with staff across multiple markets using it for research, marketing and sales.
Matchmaking firms in South Korea report that professionals at semiconductor giants like SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics, along with AI industry workers, are now the most coveted partners in the country's dating scene, overtaking traditionally prestigious fields like medicine and law. The shift follows massive profit-sharing bonuses, with SK Hynix employees reportedly earning around 700 million won annually, more than 15 times Korea's average salary, fueled by stock surges of 95% and 135% at Samsung and SK Hynix respectively this year.
SK Hynix CEO Kwak Noh-jung said he sees no signs of oversupply in the memory chip market and expects the current shortage to persist until 2030, driven largely by AI-related demand for advanced memory like HBM. He made the comments as the company broke ground on a new chip packaging facility in Indiana, part of its broader US expansion tied to growing customer needs.
Taiwanese media report that Micron's two main unions are pressing for larger bonuses after the company's profits surged on AI-driven memory demand. Union chairman Lin Zherui pointed to Micron's record earnings, arguing compensation has stayed capped near 200% of salary even as SK Hynix and Samsung paid workers hundreds of thousands of dollars this year. Reports suggest union membership has grown sharply as frustration builds, raising the possibility of labor action.
A preliminary survey found that 80% of Micron Taiwan employees support a possible strike, as the labor union demands the company replace its current bonus structure with a profit-sharing model similar to those at SK hynix and Samsung. Mandatory mediation talks are expected to start by mid-September, as required under Taiwan law before any formal strike vote can occur. The push comes after Micron posted $41.46 billion in revenue and $28.24 billion in net income, fueled largely by AI-driven demand for high-bandwidth memory chips.
SK hynix held a groundbreaking ceremony this week for its first U.S.-based HBM packaging and testing facility, located in West Lafayette, Indiana. The $4 billion site will package HBM stacks using DRAM wafers made in South Korea, with volume production of next-generation HBM memory expected in the second half of 2029, roughly a year later than originally planned.
SK Hynix held a groundbreaking ceremony at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, for its first U.S. facility, a $4 billion plant dedicated to packaging high-bandwidth memory chips. CEO Kwak Noh-Jung said the site will become a key American production base for HBM by 2030, with its first cleanroom expected to open in October 2028, though actual chip manufacturing will still occur in South Korea and China.
Chinese chipmaker YMTC has told investors it intends to become the world's biggest NAND flash producer by the end of 2027, surpassing Samsung and SK hynix. The Wuhan-based firm recently filed to raise 33 billion yuan ($4.9 billion) on Shanghai's STAR Market, with most funds going toward upgrading production lines and expanding research and development.
At Hot Chips 2026, SK hynix's Jaesik Lee said hybrid bonding won't be ready in time for HBM4E and will instead debut with HBM5, as current HBM4 packages are already constrained by a 775-micron thickness ceiling matching standard logic wafers. To keep scaling within that limit, 16-Hi HBM4 stacks now use dies thinned to about 50 microns with half the interlayer gap of 12-Hi designs, while SK hynix continues using its existing MR-MUF bonding method through upcoming Nvidia Rubin-generation products.