SK Hynix Weighs Making Memory Chips at Intel's Ohio Site

The world's largest supplier of high-bandwidth memory is discussing whether to build chips in Ohio, inside a factory Intel has not finished. Reuters reported on 16 September 2026, citing three people familiar with the talks, that SK Hynix and Intel are exploring a deal that would give the South Korean company its first chip fabrication on American soil. One person described the discussions as exploratory and said no decisions have been made.

Two ways the deal could be built

Under one scenario reported by Reuters, SK Hynix would lease part of Intel's long-planned complex in Ohio. Under another, it would form a venture with Intel and major cloud companies keen to lock in memory supply, two of the people said. Reuters could not learn which chips SK Hynix might make there. Its lineup spans DRAM for servers, PCs and phones, NAND flash for storage, and the HBM stacks that sit beside AI accelerators, where it is the leading supplier.

The Ohio site itself is the second half of the story. Intel announced in 2022 that it would invest up to $100 billion to build what could be the world's largest chipmaking complex there, with production to begin in 2025. Completion of the two plants has since slipped to 2030 and 2031, per Reuters. A tenant with product to run would ease the financial strain on Intel, which is part-owned by the US government after last year's $8.9 billion investment for a 9.9% stake. Intel declined to comment on what it called speculation but said it was continuing investments to ready the site.

Why Seoul is the obstacle

Any agreement to produce advanced memory such as HBM, or even DRAM, could run into opposition from the South Korean government because those technologies are treated as sensitive, the three sources told Reuters. Asked about the possibility, South Korea's trade ministry said any decision would be at the company's discretion, but that a deal involving a 'national core technology' would be subject to review under the Industrial Technology Protection Act. Seoul has also urged SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics to speed up a new cluster of fabs in the country's southwest.

SK Hynix's own statement kept every door open. The company told Reuters it is 'reviewing various measures, including establishing additional production bases, to strengthen the competitiveness of its memory business,' adding that 'no matters have been determined at this stage.' Its chairman had been less guarded in July. 'I think we need to build a factory in the United States. If possible, I believe we should build it,' SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won told reporters then, describing enormous pressure from customers and governments to supply more chips.

The pressure from Washington

Reuters frames the talks against two levers. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has threatened tariffs of up to 100% on South Korean and Taiwanese companies unless they commit to more production in America. And the two governments are still wrangling over the execution of a $350 billion investment commitment South Korea made last year in exchange for lower US tariffs; about $150 billion has been earmarked for shipbuilding, with the remaining $200 billion undecided. Two of the sources said that leaves SK Hynix squeezed between Seoul, which wants to use any US investment as leverage, and Washington, which wants a quick commitment.

The economics point the other way. Manufacturing semiconductors in the United States costs much more than in South Korea, two of the sources said, because of labour and construction costs and a supply chain concentrated in Asia. SK Hynix, which completed a secondary listing on the Nasdaq in July, currently has only a chip packaging facility under construction in the United States, in Indiana. The honest reading is that a memory fab in Ohio would be a political decision first and a commercial one second, which is exactly why the talks are exploratory and the ministry's review is the fact to watch.