South Korean memory chipmaker SK Hynix announced on Thursday that it has begun shipping samples of its latest-generation high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips to its primary clients, as the company seeks to strengthen its position in the rapidly expanding market for artificial intelligence semiconductors.

The company stated that this new 12-layer HBM4E chip can achieve a maximum per-pin data transfer rate of up to 16 gigabits per second, while offering an improvement in power efficiency exceeding 20% compared to the previous generation of products.

HBM chips are utilized in AI chipsets and serve as a critical component in processors manufactured by companies such as NVIDIA, aiding in the processing of the massive volumes of data required for training AI models.

SK Hynix is a primary HBM supplier to NVIDIA, and faces competition in this sector from rivals including Samsung and Micron.