Samsung, SK Hynix agree to supply chips for OpenAI’s Stargate
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The news: OpenAI announced on Wednesday that it has partnered with Samsung and SK Hynix as part of the AI giant’s Stargate initiative.
The context: The partnerships will see Samsung and SK Hynix increase their supply of advanced memory chips for the next generation of OpenAI’s artificial intelligence as well as expanding data centre capacity in Korea.
A statement from OpenAI says that the agreement followed a meeting between South Korean President Lee Jae-myung, Samsung executive chairman Jay Y Lee, SK chairman Chey Tae-won, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman at the Presidential Office in Seoul.
Through the partnerships, Samsung and SK Hynix plan to scale up production of advanced memory chips, targeting 900,000 DRAM wafer starts per month at an accelerated capacity rollout.
SK Hynix is currently the global leader in delivering high-bandwidth memory which is essential to Nvidia’s AI accelerators. Samsung is also working to become a major supplier.
Thursday’s agreement will also help Seoul to develop its domestic AI ecosystem, with Altman signing a memorandum of understanding with the Korean Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) specifically to evaluate opportunities for building AI data centres outside the Seoul Metropolitan Area.
The agreements include a separate partnership with SK Telecom to consider building an AI data centre in Korea, as well as an agreement with Samsung C&T, Samsung Heavy Industries, and Samsung SDS to consider opportunities for additional data centre capacity across the country.
In August, Nvidia announced plans to invest up to USD100 billion ($151.24 billion) in OpenAI to build massive AI data centres powered by its chips, the companies said.
What they said: Altman said: “Korea has all the ingredients to be a global leader in AI—incredible tech talent, world-class infrastructure, strong government support, and a thriving AI ecosystem.”
SK Hynix chairman Chey Tae-won said: “Partnering on Stargate represents a landmark moment for SK and the official starting point for comprehensive technological innovation, with SK bringing powerful synergies across the full AI stack—memory semiconductors, data centres, energy, and networks.”
