On June 7th, NVIDIA (NVDA) and SK Hynix, the world's second-largest memory chipmaker, announced a multi-year technology partnership. The collaboration will focus on the joint development of next-generation memory products required for the construction of global AI factories. It will also deeply integrate AI technology into the design and manufacturing processes of semiconductor chips. This agreement directly addresses ongoing market concerns about potential memory supply bottlenecks as AI infrastructure expands.

The announcement came at a time of heightened market sensitivity. On June 4th, research firm SemiAnalysis published a report suggesting a potential memory downgrade in NVIDIA's next-generation Vera Rubin AI server platform. This report, combined with existing worries about HBM supply constraints, triggered a sell-off in memory chip stocks, with Micron Technology plunging over 10% that day.

In response to the market's concerns, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang, who was visiting South Korea, quickly addressed the issue on June 5th. He refuted the rumors, emphasizing that NVIDIA "will use a lot of HBM memory" and confirmed that its three main suppliers—Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and Micron Technology—have all passed qualification and are in mass production, competing to support the supply for the Vera Rubin platform. Huang also revealed that the Vera Rubin chip is already in full production, with deliveries expected to begin in the third quarter of this year.

However, that same evening, US markets experienced a "Black Friday" sell-off. A combination of factors, including rising expectations for Federal Reserve interest rate hikes, the ongoing impact of the SemiAnalysis report, and disappointing earnings from Broadcom, led to a sharp decline. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell more than 10% in a single day, its largest drop since March 2020. NVIDIA shares tumbled 6.2%, erasing approximately $328 billion in market value in one session, making it one of the leading decliners in the tech sector. SK Hynix shares had already fallen sharply earlier that day in the Korean market.

In this context, the partnership announcement sends a clear strategic signal for the supply chain. According to the official statement, the core of the multi-year agreement is to deeply align SK Hynix's memory development roadmap with NVIDIA's AI infrastructure roadmap. The two companies will jointly develop next-generation memory products for NVIDIA's Vera Rubin AI supercomputer, Vera CPU, RTX Spark personal computers, and Jetson Thor robotics computing platforms, covering three major market directions: AI infrastructure, personal AI, and physical AI.

Beyond joint memory product development, the collaboration extends into semiconductor design and manufacturing. SK Hynix will adopt NVIDIA's CUDA-X libraries and PhysicsNeMo framework to accelerate semiconductor simulation, technology computer-aided design (TCAD) workflows, and internal engineering code, and will explore a three-way collaboration model with electronic design automation software suppliers.

In the smart manufacturing field, SK Hynix will combine NVIDIA's Omniverse platform, OpenUSD processes, and cuOpt decision optimization engine to build a digital twin system for its wafer fabs, laying the foundation for fully autonomous fab operations. The partners will also explore connecting these digital twins with existing legacy software and agent AI workflows to automate and enhance manufacturing decisions.

NVIDIA emphasized in its statement that the agreement explicitly supports the supply of advanced memory, aiming to address structural challenges such as long development cycles, complex manufacturing processes, and intensive capital investment. This ensures memory supply can keep pace with the ongoing expansion of global AI factories.

Jensen Huang stated that AI factories are the core engine of a new industrial revolution, and high-end memory is key to ensuring their performance. He noted that SK Hynix has been an outstanding partner, and together they will develop the next generation of memory for AI factories. SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won added that SK Hynix and NVIDIA have been building towards this for years, and the partnership reflects the depth of their collaboration.

Previously, on June 1st at the GTC Taipei 2026 conference, Jensen Huang announced NVIDIA's formal entry into the personal computer chip market with new processors. This move aims to challenge Intel's dominance in the sector and push PC devices to adapt to the demands of the AI era.

Huang stated that starting this fall, major PC brands like Dell (DELL) and Lenovo will begin launching laptops and desktops equipped with the RTX Spark super chip. This product, co-developed by NVIDIA and MediaTek, integrates a processor and graphics card and can run the Arm-based version of Microsoft Windows. The new product is expected to change how personal computers work, with users simply stating their needs and letting the computer handle the rest.

Commenting on the current fervor in the global AI industry, Huang expressed his belief that the AI era has truly arrived.