SK Hynix Park Jung-ho "AI Chatbot Service Expected to Drive Semiconductor Demand"

Presentation on "The Path Forward for Korean Semiconductors in the AI Era"

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Pyeonghwa] Park Jung-ho, Vice Chairman of SK Hynix, focused on the increasing AI chatbot services due to ChatGPT. He predicted that these services could become a key factor driving semiconductor demand in the future.

On the afternoon of the 15th, Vice Chairman Park delivered a keynote speech titled "The Path for Korean Semiconductors in the AI Era" at the academic symposium commemorating the opening of the Doheon Academy held at the Korea Press Center. He explained that memory semiconductors have played an essential role in the evolution of IT systems so far and will take on significant challenges in the upcoming AI era.

Vice Chairman Park said, "Memory chips have been fundamentally essential in the evolution of IT systems through the PC and mobile eras," adding, "With the advent of AI, a critical moment has arrived, making it time to reconsider semiconductors."

Park Jung-ho, Vice Chairman of SK Hynix, is delivering the keynote speech at the academic symposium commemorating the opening of the Dohun Institute at Hallym University. /
Photo by SK Hynix

The semiconductor industry is paying close attention to the changes following the ChatGPT syndrome. Vice Chairman Park viewed various AI chatbot services launched by big tech companies as potential killer applications in the future. To respond to this, he explained that several next-generation memory technologies such as High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) and Compute Express Link (CXL) have been introduced. He also mentioned that SK Hynix supplied HBM2E (3rd generation HBM) to the NVIDIA graphics processing units (GPUs) installed in ChatGPT servers.

Vice Chairman Park identified three challenges to strengthen the competitiveness of Korea’s memory-centric semiconductor industry: nurturing talented personnel, government efforts to reinforce the semiconductor ecosystem, and preparing for future technologies. Among these, he emphasized that balanced talent development across various fields is the most important.

Regarding this, Vice Chairman Park said, "I heard that students who recently enrolled in semiconductor departments have not come in," and added, "I think students should also participate in workshops."

Meanwhile, after attending the event, Vice Chairman Park told reporters on his way out that large-scale semiconductor production cuts might be difficult. Regarding the advanced packaging facility to be established in the United States, he shared that they are currently reviewing which state the site will be located in. He mentioned the possibility of exploring options such as building fabs together with allied countries to respond to the current situation where the U.S. is reorganizing supply chains.