South Korea's two largest chipmakers are cementing their place at the center of the global AI boom.
Samsung and SK Group announced $950 billion in AI partnerships with US technology companies, according to thelec.net and voz.us, under which Samsung and SK Hynix will supply chips to Nvidia and other American firms.
A large piece of that total runs through Nvidia. Nvidia and SK Hynix signed a $500 billion AI memory deal aimed at a massive data center buildout, according to Briefs Finance. Separately, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said Nvidia would announce a $500 billion partnership with SK Group, according to thelec.net.
Samsung is also broadening its customer base beyond Nvidia. According to Yellow.com, Samsung secured a roughly $200 billion chip deal with Broadcom.
The partnerships extend past hardware supply. According to Chosunbiz, Samsung Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong and OpenAI's Sam Altman advanced a Korea–OpenAI partnership focused on AI chips and infrastructure.
Taken together, the agreements reinforce South Korea's role as a linchpin of the AI supply chain, a point emphasized by The Korea Herald, which reported that Samsung and SK are cementing the country's position in that chain.
The headline numbers are enormous, and the reporting here draws on multiple outlets rather than a single confirmed figure, so the precise scope and timing of each deal may become clearer as companies release details.
Why it matters: The AI systems that power tools millions of people use depend on a handful of memory and processor suppliers, and these deals show how much of that critical supply now flows through two Korean companies.