South Korea's SK Hynix is in talks with Intel to potentially manufacture memory chips at Intel's Ohio facility, which would mark the chipmaker's first memory production in the US, Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing three people familiar with the discussions.
Under one scenario, SK Hynix would reportedly lease part of Intel's long-planned chipmaking facility in Ohio. Alternatively, it could form a venture with Intel and major cloud companies keen to lock in memory chip supplies, two of the sources told the news agency.
A deal would relieve pressure on Intel, which has been struggling, and mark a win for the Trump administration, which has been pushing chipmakers to build in the US as AI and data centre investment drives an acute shortage of memory chips.
However, potential opposition from Seoul could pose a major hurdle. One source described the talks as exploratory, stressing that no decisions have been made and that SK Hynix could also consider other ways to structure any deal.
Reuters was not able to establish what types of chips SK Hynix may manufacture in Ohio if an agreement is struck.
The company's product lineup includes DRAM chips used in servers, PCs and smartphones, NAND flash memory for long-term storage, and high-bandwidth memory (HBM) used in AI processors — the last of which SK Hynix leads globally.
Any agreement to produce advanced memory such as HBM or DRAM could face pushback from the South Korean government, which considers those technologies sensitive, the three sources said.
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SK Hynix said in a statement to Reuters that it was "reviewing various measures, including establishing additional production bases," though "no matters have been determined at this stage."
Intel declined to comment on what it called speculation, while South Korea's trade ministry said any decision would rest with the company, though projects involving "national core technology" would face review under the Industrial Technology Protection Act.
Manufacturing semiconductors in the US costs significantly more than in South Korea due to higher labour and construction costs.
Even so, SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won said in July that the company faced heavy pressure from customers and governments to supply more chips, adding that he believed SK Hynix should build a US factory if feasible.
Washington has also pressed Seoul on this front, with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick threatening tariffs of up to 100% on South Korean and Taiwanese firms unless they commit to increased production on American soil, Reuters reported.
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