Professor Kwon Seok-jun: "Dense AI Ecosystem is Key to Semiconductor Hegemony"

With the arrival of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) era, semiconductors have emerged as a core asset that determines technological hegemony between nations, moving beyond being mere components. This is because the GPUs, DRAM, High Bandwidth Memory (HBM), and power grids required to run AI models are connected in a massive network. Amidst this trend, analysis suggests that the essence of semiconductor competitiveness lies in the "ecosystem" that binds these elements together, rather than in individual technological capabilities.

SK hynix recently addressed the importance of the ecosystem determining the competitiveness of the AI and semiconductor industries during the fifth special lecture of its "Future Talent CLASS" held with university student ambassadors. The lecturer, Professor Kwon Seok-jun of the Department of Chemical Engineering at Sungkyunkwan University, explained the background of why semiconductors have become the center of technological hegemony and discussed national-level response strategies.

Semiconductors Linked to National Competitiveness Move Toward 'Sovereign AI'

Professor Kwon diagnosed that while semiconductors have been at the center of technological hegemony competitions since the Cold War era, their status has completely changed with the addition of the AI variable. He explained that all trends—AI, national competitiveness, and technological hegemony—are converging at a single point: semiconductors. In particular, as the movement toward "Sovereign AI," where each country seeks to secure independent AI capabilities, intensifies, semiconductor self-reliance has become a national task.

In fact, government-level movements are becoming visible. Referencing the "Three Mega Projects" announced by the government this past June, Professor Kwon analyzed that the construction of Mega FABs, the expansion of AI data centers, and the fostering of the Physical AI industry are all ultimately tied together by the single link of semiconductors. This signifies a shift in how semiconductors are viewed, to the extent that the state is directly stepping in to build large-scale infrastructure.

The structure of the global market is also densely divided according to the strengths of each nation. While South Korea holds strengths in the memory field, Taiwan leads in logic semiconductor production (TSMC), the United States leads in design and core process equipment, Japan leads in materials and components, and the Netherlands leads in lithography equipment. Germany holds a share in automotive semiconductors, and Southeast Asia holds a share in the back-end process, with each country exercising influence based on its own respective weapons.

The Power of an 'Ecosystem' Connected to Even a German Rural Craft Workshop

Professor Kwon defined the AI ecosystem as "an intertwined network system that cannot function if even one part is missing." He explained that if NVIDIA designs a GPU to create an AI model, TSMC produces it, and in that process, ASML's lithography equipment and optical components from Germany's Carl Zeiss SMT are essentially used. The core point is that even a craft workshop in a rural German village that makes special cloths for wiping lenses is connected as a member of this massive ecosystem.

For such an ecosystem to function healthily, there must be enough participating players, and the links between them must be very dense. However, it is pointed out as a weakness that the current domestic semiconductor industry still maintains a high level of dependence on overseas sources for hundreds of types of equipment and thousands of types of materials, parts, and equipment (materials/components/equipment).

Building a Self-Reliant Materials/Components/Equipment Ecosystem via Yongin 'Trinity FAB'

Even if domestic materials, components, and equipment companies possess technological prowess, they face difficulties in reducing dependence on overseas sources due to a lack of space to verify products in actual mass-production environments. Professor Kwon identified the "Trinity FAB," which SK hynix is pursuing, as the key solution to resolve this issue.

SK hynix plans to build the Trinity FAB, a shared test fab, within the Yongin Semiconductor Cluster in cooperation with local governments. This facility will provide an environment identical to actual semiconductor mass-production fabs, supporting domestic materials, components, and equipment companies so they can directly verify the mass-production reliability of the products they develop. This project, which carries the meaning of a trinity cooperation between "SK hynix, the government, and materials/components/equipment companies," is expected to serve as a stepping stone for domestic companies to compete in the global market.

Professor Kwon emphasized, "Materials, components, and equipment companies can grow into reliable allies for SK hynix in the future and become companies that compete in the global market. If a healthy and robust ecosystem is completed through this, semiconductor companies from all over the world will visit South Korea more frequently."

Source: news.skhynix.co.kr