SK hynix Emphasizes Global Technology Leadership by Unveiling Next-Generation Memory Roadmap

SK hynix held the '2026 Global Forum' in Santa Clara, California, USA, to reveal its next-generation memory technology vision and growth strategies in response to the artificial intelligence (AI) era.

Held at the Marriott Hotel on the 18th (local time), this forum is an event that has continued annually since 2012. This year, it was organized as a venue to share SK hynix's future blueprint by inviting global experts in the AI and semiconductor fields as well as researchers from major American universities. Key executives, including CEO Kwak Noh-jung and CDO Ahn Hyun, attended to discuss technological innovation plans with global talents.

"Without memory, there is no AI industry"... Expanding global production and R&D bases

In his keynote speech, CEO Kwak Noh-jung emphasized SK hynix's technological leadership within the AI industry. Premising that "without memory, the AI industry cannot exist," CEO Kwak expressed the determination to develop next-generation memory that will continue the milestones established through HBM (High Bandwidth Memory).

In particular, SK hynix plans to significantly expand its production and research foundations to increase its influence in the global semiconductor ecosystem. Along with expanding production bases such as the Yongin semiconductor cluster and the Indiana Fab in the United States, the company presented a strategy to solidify its technological advantage by establishing a new global AI R&D center in the United States. CEO Kwak said, "Demand for AI memory will continue to remain high," and "We will maintain market dominance through new global production bases and research foundations."

Emphasis on technology integration from a system perspective and talent-centered corporate culture

In the technical sessions, in-depth discussions took place regarding the paradigm shift in the memory industry. Panelists including Vice President Kim Hyeong-su (DRAM Design), Vice President Lee Jae-won (AI Interface), Vice President Lee Kang-uk (PKG Development), and Vice President Kim Ho-sik (Memory Systems Research) diagnosed that moving away from the past method of focusing on the performance improvement of individual technologies, an integrated approach of connecting different technologies and finding solutions from a total system perspective will become important in the future.

'Corporate culture' was also mentioned as the foundation of technological competitiveness. Vice President Jin Bo-geon explained that SK hynix's technological prowess stems from a flexible and horizontal organizational culture. Vice President Jin explained, "The 'One-Team' culture, which gathers individual capabilities to create synergy, and a culture of challenging new ways are the foundation of technological competitiveness."

The forum continued with themed round table sessions divided into four areas: design, process/device, advanced package, and system. Current experts and academic researchers exchanged opinions on memory technology issues and future development directions in the AI era through small-scale seminars. Meanwhile, an exhibition space for flagship products including HBM and next-generation memory solutions was prepared at the venue, and a poster session introducing research papers by SK hynix scholarship students was operated for the first time.