SK Hynix and Intel in Talks to Make Memory Chips in Ohio for the First Time, Reuters Reports

SK Hynix is in talks with Intel about manufacturing memory chips on U.S. soil for the first time, according to three people familiar with the discussions cited by Reuters on September 16. No deal has been struck, and the sources describe the talks as exploratory.

One option under discussion: SK Hynix leases part of Intel's long-delayed Ohio fabrication plant. Another, more complex option: SK Hynix forms a joint venture with Intel and major cloud computing firms that want to lock in memory supply, according to two of the sources.

Reuters could not determine which chips SK Hynix would actually produce in Ohio if a deal happens. The company's lineup spans DRAM for servers and PCs, NAND flash for storage, and high-bandwidth memory (HBM), where SK Hynix is the global market leader.

Why This Matters Now

AI data center buildout has created what Reuters describes as an acute shortage of memory chips. Cloud providers are reportedly pushing to secure long-term supply, which is part of what's driving interest in a joint venture structure.

For Intel, a deal would be a lifeline. The company's Ohio project, announced in 2022 with a price tag of up to $100 billion, has faced years of delays and cost overruns. Landing SK Hynix as a tenant or partner would fill capacity Intel has struggled to use.

For the Trump administration, Reuters frames a deal as a political win. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said in July that he wants SK Hynix and rival Samsung to build front-end chip fabs in the United States, not just packaging operations. Intel told Reuters it does not comment on "speculation" but confirmed it is continuing to invest in readying the Ohio site.

Seoul Could Still Block It

The real obstacle is South Korea's government. If any deal involves advanced memory production, especially HBM or DRAM, it could trigger a review under South Korea's Industrial Technology Protection Act, according to the sources who spoke to Reuters.

South Korea's trade ministry told Reuters that any move is at SK Hynix's discretion, but a project involving what it calls "national core technology" would require formal review. That's a legitimate national-security and industrial-policy concern, not a bureaucratic stall tactic. Seoul has treated advanced memory manufacturing as a strategic asset for decades, and giving that technology base away to a foreign fab, even one owned by an American ally's ally, is the kind of decision governments don't take lightly.

SK Hynix, for its part, gave a carefully hedged statement to Reuters: the company is "reviewing various measures, including establishing additional production bases, to strengthen the competitiveness of its memory business," but "no matters have been determined at this stage."

SK Hynix already has a confirmed, under-construction U.S. facility, but it's a different animal. According to CNBC, the company held a groundbreaking ceremony for its first U.S. facility in West Lafayette, Indiana, where CEO Kwak Noh-Jung said the site will become a "key HBM production base in America" by 2030. That $4 billion Indiana site is packaging only. Chips will still be manufactured in South Korea and China, then shipped to Indiana to be stacked and connected. The first cleanroom there is scheduled to open in October 2028. Indiana Governor Mike Braun called it the "biggest development project in Indiana's history."

The Ohio talks Reuters is reporting today would be something new: actual front-end memory chip manufacturing in the U.S., which SK Hynix has never done. Reuters previously reported in July that SK Hynix was considering partnering with Intel to help operate the Ohio fab, a report SK Hynix denied at the time, according to StockTwits' coverage of the earlier reporting.

A separate strand covered by StockTwits in late August, sourced to South Korean outlet Herald Economy, described SK Hynix weighing whether to outsource HBM4E base-die production to Intel Foundry to cut reliance on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing. That's a supply-chain and foundry customer story, distinct from the manufacturing-on-U.S.-soil talks Reuters is reporting today, and it shouldn't be conflated with it.

Market Reaction and What's Next

BigGo Finance reported that both Intel and SK Hynix shares rose more than 2% in after-hours trading following the Reuters report.

SK Group CEO Chey Tae-won told CNBC in July that SK Hynix had been studying possible U.S. sites for more than a month and was "willing to do it," but needed to "find the right place."

None of this is finalized. The open questions that matter: which chips would actually get made in Ohio, whether Seoul's technology-protection review becomes a real obstacle or a formality, and whether cloud companies join as JV partners or simply as customers. Reuters says the U.S. Commerce Department did not respond to a request for comment on the talks.