Chey Tae-won Meets TSMC Chairman After Jensen Huang, Strengthening the 'Triangular Alliance' for AI Semiconductors

[Financial News Taipei, Taiwan = Reporter Jeong Won-il] Chey Tae-won, chairman of SK Group, who is visiting Taiwan to attend COMPUTEX Taipei 2026, the largest information technology show in Asia, met with NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang and then held talks with C.C. Wei, chairman of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSMC), the world's largest foundry, to discuss ways to strengthen cooperation on next-generation artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductors. As Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. and Micron are accelerating efforts to secure leadership in the next-generation high bandwidth memory (HBM) market, the move is seen as an effort to further reinforce the 'AI semiconductor triangular alliance' among SK Hynix, NVIDIA and TSMC.
According to SK Hynix on the 4th, Chey met with TSMC Chairman C.C. Wei in Taiwan the previous day and exchanged views on next-generation AI technology trends and the development of a future AI ecosystem. It was their first meeting in about two years, since their last talks in June 2024. The two companies reaffirmed their HBM partnership and agreed to expand cooperation across the board to respond to the rapidly changing AI market. In particular, they decided to strengthen collaboration in next-generation HBM development and advanced packaging.
SK Hynix had produced the base die for HBM3E, its fifth-generation product, using its own process, but starting with HBM4, the sixth generation, it has entrusted the process to TSMC. The company turned to TSMC, which can handle advanced process technologies, as customer demand grew for base dies with customized functions.
Industry observers say the significance of the meeting is substantial, as competition in AI semiconductors is expanding beyond rivalry between individual companies and becoming an ecosystem battle involving memory, foundry and packaging firms. Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., which also has its own foundry capabilities, has begun supplying HBM4 to NVIDIA, and analysts expect this to deepen ties between SK Hynix and TSMC. The two companies also plan to expand cooperation in the custom AI memory market, which is designed to meet the diverse demands of global big tech companies. An SK Hynix official said, "Through our solid partnership with TSMC, we will deliver the highest-performance products demanded by the AI era on time and further solidify our market leadership."
one1@fnnews.com Reporter