South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix has announced a 19 trillion won ($12.85 billion) investment in a new domestic manufacturing facility dedicated to advanced packaging, a critical process in producing high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips used in AI data centres. Construction on the plant began this month, as the company — a key supplier to Nvidia — races to keep pace with surging global demand for AI memory. The move underscores South Korea's central role in the global semiconductor supply chain at a time when demand for AI infrastructure continues to accelerate.