Samsung and SK hynix secure $950 billion AI chip supply deals with US tech giants

Samsung and SK hynix to supply AI memory chips under $950b US deals

South Korean memory chip manufacturers Samsung Electronics and SK hynix have finalized supply agreements worth $950 billion with leading US technology companies, including Nvidia, OpenAI, Anthropic and Broadcom, according to a presidential adviser announced on Saturday.

The announcement came during President Lee Jae Myung's visit to San Francisco, where he held discussions with executives from major technology firms including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Nvidia's Jensen Huang, Anthropic's Dario Amodei and Broadcom's Hock Tan. Lee, who became South Korea's 14th president in June 2025 following early elections, has made technology partnerships a cornerstone of his economic agenda.

Deal structure and scope

The agreements include a five-year cooperation plan between SK hynix and companies including Nvidia valued at $750 billion for memory chip supplies. Additionally, Samsung Electronics signed a $200 billion memorandum of understanding with Broadcom covering advanced memory chips and foundry services for AI chip production over the same period, according to Kim Yong-beom, presidential chief of staff for policy.

The deals focus on high-bandwidth memory (HBM), specialized chips essential for artificial intelligence processors. These advanced memory components work alongside graphics processing units to power AI applications from chatbots to image generation systems. South Korean companies dominate this market, with SK hynix holding approximately 50-62% of global HBM market share and Samsung controlling 25-40%, while Korean manufacturers collectively produce about 80% of worldwide HBM chips.

Economic and strategic context

The agreements arrive as South Korea intensifies its commitment to artificial intelligence leadership. The country's parliament approved a record 727.9 trillion won ($495.8 billion) budget for 2026 in December 2025, representing an 8.1% increase that more than tripled AI-specific spending to 10.1 trillion won compared to the previous year.

The demand driving these deals reflects explosive growth in AI infrastructure. Nvidia reported record quarterly revenue of $81.6 billion for the February-April 2026 period, with data center revenue of $75.2 billion representing 92% year-over-year growth. The company has announced $1 trillion in confirmed AI chip purchase orders through 2027, while major cloud providers including Microsoft, Amazon, Google and Meta are projected to spend over $200 billion on AI infrastructure in 2026 alone.

AI training and inference workloads currently command over 55% of HBM demand in 2026, with high-performance computing accounting for 25%, graphics for 12%, and emerging applications including autonomous vehicles and edge AI representing 8%.

Production capacity expansion

To meet surging demand, both companies are expanding manufacturing capabilities. Samsung and SK hynix plan to increase HBM production capacity by approximately 50% in 2026. Samsung's P5 facility in Pyeongtaek is expected to become operational by 2028, while SK hynix's M15X facility is slated for mid-2027.

Labor relations and industry stability

The AI boom has intensified worker demands regarding compensation. Samsung averted a potentially disruptive labor action in May when union members voted in favor of a compensation deal on May 27, 2026, that provided chip workers with an average bonus of approximately $340,000. The agreement, approved by 74% of voting members, ended an 18-day strike that had raised concerns about global chip supply disruptions.

Strategic partnerships

Under the Samsung-Broadcom agreement, the companies will

pursue a strategic collaboration for the supply of industry-leading memory solutions, including HBM, supporting Broadcom's next-generation AI accelerators,

Samsung stated.

Similarly, SK hynix and Nvidia plan to

accelerate large-scale AI infrastructure development

through their partnership. The companies

will co-develop and optimize next-generation AI memory solutions, including HBM, to meet evolving infrastructure demands ranging from large language model training to physical AI,

SK hynix said.

The global AI chip market reached $120 billion in revenue in 2025, tripling from 2023 levels, with an estimated 1.7 million high-end AI GPUs shipped globally last year. South Korea has pledged to triple spending on AI this year, positioning itself alongside the United States and China as a leading power in the sector.