SK hynix commits $38 billion to two new AI-memory fabs

SK hynix’s board approved roughly 54 trillion won, about $38.1 billion, to build two new memory-chip factories, the South Korean chipmaker said Aug. 7, betting that AI demand will keep straining DRAM and NAND supply.

The larger slice, 35.2 trillion won, funds the Yongin “Y2” plant for DRAM and high-bandwidth memory, while 19.1 trillion won goes to the Cheongju “M17” NAND fab, SK hynix said in its investment announcement. Y2 spans about 1.13 million square meters and M17 about 680,000.

Y2 breaks ground in July 2027, with its first cleanroom targeted for June 2029; M17 starts construction in February 2027 and aims for a first cleanroom by December 2028. The staggered timelines put meaningful new output years away.

The company said it based the outlay on projections that DRAM and NAND demand will grow at a 19% compound annual rate through 2030, driven by AI. That figure is SK hynix’s own demand estimate, not an independent forecast, and both plants sit far enough out that an AI-spending pullback could change the math before they open.

The two fabs fall inside a larger plan the company outlined in June to spend 600 trillion won on its Yongin Semiconductor Cluster and another 100 trillion won expanding Cheongju. SK hynix supplies high-bandwidth memory used alongside AI accelerators, a segment where it competes with Samsung and Micron.