# America Wants More AI Chips Made At Home. SK Hynix's Has Broken Ground In Indiana. > Source: > Published: 2026-08-28 16:07:11+00:00 # America Wants More AI Chips Made At Home. SK Hynix’s Has Broken Ground In Indiana. ## SK Hynix says the project will create about 7,000 direct and indirect jobs, while federal and state incentives could exceed $1 billion. SK Hynix has broken ground on a more than $4 billion advanced packaging facility in Indiana that will become its first U.S. production base for high-bandwidth memory, the chips increasingly critical to [artificial intelligence](https://www.ibtimes.com/social-tags/artificial-intelligence) systems. The South Korean memory maker held a ceremony Thursday in West Lafayette, where CEO Kwak Noh-Jung said the facility would help turn Indiana into a key U.S. HBM production hub by 2030. The plant's first cleanroom is scheduled to open in October 2028, with mass production of next-generation HBM expected to begin in the second half of 2029, according to [the company](https://news.skhynix.com/en/groundbreaking-ceremony-in-indiana/). Unlike a front-end semiconductor fab, the Indiana facility will not manufacture the underlying memory wafers. Advanced wafers will be produced in South Korea and shipped to Indiana for packaging and testing before finished products are supplied to U.S. customers. [CNBC](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/08/27/sk-hynix-ceo-says-indiana-will-be-key-memory-production-base-by-2030.html) reported that U.S. officials have continued pressing major memory makers to bring more front-end manufacturing to the country as Washington seeks to reduce reliance on overseas semiconductor production. SK Hynix currently controls about 58% of the global HBM market and expects the worldwide memory shortage to persist through 2030 as AI data centers consume increasing amounts of advanced memory. HBM stacks multiple memory chips vertically to deliver the high data-transfer speeds required by processors used to train and run AI models. The Indiana plant will include an advanced packaging research and development center alongside its production lines, allowing customers, universities and suppliers to work on next-generation packaging technologies. SK Hynix also signed an agreement with Purdue University covering advanced packaging research and plans to recruit heavily from the university's engineering and semiconductor programs. Federal and state governments are providing substantial support for the project. The [U.S. Commerce Department](https://www.commerce.gov/news/press-releases/2024/12/biden-harris-administration-announces-chips-incentives-award-sk-hynix) finalized up to $458 million in direct CHIPS Act funding in 2024 and offered as much as $500 million in loans. An [Indiana Economic Development Corporation](https://secure.in.gov/apps/iedc/transparencyportal/api/contract/231504def6d3ed11b596001dd806ae75/pdf) agreement also provides for a maximum state grant of about $712 million tied to the project. SK Hynix says roughly 1,000 people will eventually work directly at the facility, while construction and partner companies could create another 6,000 jobs. The company also expects more than 100 suppliers and other partners to participate in the Indiana semiconductor ecosystem. The expansion comes as SK Hynix continues investing heavily in additional memory capacity in South Korea. Kwak told Reuters that the company sees no sign of an HBM downturn and expects strong demand to continue, while its board has approved 54.3 trillion won, about $38 billion, of additional investment through 2031. © Copyright IBTimes 2026. All rights reserved.