SK hynix Hosts ‘2026 Global Forum,’ Sharing Its Technology Vision and Future Strategy for the AI Era

SK hynix hosted its '2026 Global Forum' on the 18th at the Marriott Hotel in Santa Clara, California, where CEO Kwak Noh-Jung said "Without memory, the AI industry cannot exist" and outlined the company's next-generation memory roadmap. Kwak cited SK hynix's expansion through production bases including the Yongin Cluster and the Indiana Fab and a new Global AI R&D Center in the US, adding that demand for AI memory will remain high as the AI industry grows. The forum, held annually since 2012, featured a General Session with a newly added panel discussion moderated by UC Irvine Professor Sangwoo Jeon and small-group Topic Round Table Sessions.

On the 18th local time , SK hynix hosted its ‘2026 Global Forum’ at the Marriott Hotel in Santa Clara, California, US. SK hynix has held the forum every year since 2012 to introduce its technology vision and growth direction to global talent. This year’s forum was attended by active professionals working at the forefront of the global AI and semiconductor fields, along with researchers from leading US universities, who saw firsthand the future blueprint SK hynix is drawing. From SK hynix, a large group of key executives — including CEO Kwak Noh-Jung and Ahn Hyun, President and Chief Development Officer — and working-level executives from each technology field also attended, engaging closely with the global talent set to lead technological innovation in the AI era. Under the slogan ‘Share the Vision, Shape the Future, Together,’ the forum featured a General Session and Topic Round Table Sessions. The program focused on sharing SK hynix’s technological capabilities, development roadmap, AI industry forecasts, and response strategies. To foster deeper discussions, a panel discussion was newly added to the General Session, and the Topic Round Table Sessions were structured as small-group seminars. The forum opened with a keynote by CEO Kwak Noh-Jung, the first speaker of the General Session. CEO Kwak highlighted the technological leadership of SK hynix at the heart of the AI industry, as well as its elevated standing in the global semiconductor ecosystem – where the company is expanding its influence by growing production bases like the Yongin Cluster and the Indiana Fab, and establishing a new Global AI R&D Center in the US. “Without memory, the AI industry cannot exist,” he said. “Just as we set a new milestone with HBM, we will continue to open up new possibilities for AI through the next-generation memory we are now preparing.” He added, “As the AI industry continues to grow, demand for AI memory will remain high. Keeping pace with this trend, we will solidify our current technological edge and overwhelming market dominance through our new global production hubs and R&D foundations.” In the panel discussion that followed, deeper technological discussions took place, under the theme ‘At the Inflection Point of Technology, Opening the Next Chapter of Memory.’ Professor Sangwoo Jeon of UC Irvine served as moderator, with panelists Vice President Hyungsoo Kim, head of the DRAM Design department; Vice President Jaewon Lee, head of the AI Interface department; Vice President Kangwook Lee, head of the Package Development department; and Vice President Hoshik Kim, head of the Memory Systems Research department. The panelists observed that the rapid advancement of AI is bringing a crucial turning point for the memory industry. Whereas individual technical fields previously focused on improving their own performance, connecting different technologies and finding solutions from a total system perspective will become far more critical moving forward. The conversation also turned to the capabilities required for future engineers amid this technological change. Panelists predicted that it will become increasingly important for engineers to have deep domain expertise with understanding of adjacent technologies, and collaborate effectively with experts across various fields to solve problems together. The final speaker of the General Session was Vice President Bogun Jin, head of the Corporate Culture division. Under the theme ‘Corporate Culture: The Source of SK hynix’s Technological Competitiveness,’ Jin introduced the company’s talent-centered philosophy and explained in detail the distinctive corporate culture that its management and employees are building together. “The strength that has allowed SK hynix to lead the AI memory market lies in an organizational culture that is both flexible and horizontal,” Jin stressed. “The one-team culture that brings together each individual’s capabilities to generate greater synergy, along with a culture that continually challenges itself to try new approaches, is likewise the foundation of our technological competitiveness.” In the thematic round table sessions that followed, participants were first divided into active professionals and academic researchers, and then further grouped into four areas — Silicon Design, Process & Device, Advanced Package, and AI System. Across a total of eight sessions, small-group seminars were held together with SK hynix’s working-level executives. In the seminars for active professionals, participants actively exchanged views on current issues in memory technology in the AI era and on the direction of its future development. In the seminars for academic researchers, in-depth discussions were held on each researcher’s own field of semiconductor research. On one side of the venue, an exhibition space was also set up to showcase SK hynix’s product portfolio and flagship technologies. The company displayed its flagship products leading the current AI ecosystem, such as HBM, as well as its next-generation memory solutions. This year’s forum also introduced a new space displaying research papers by SK hynix scholarship recipients published in top global academic conferences and journals. This Global Forum was a meaningful occasion for SK hynix to share its technology vision and global growth strategy directly with the experts leading today’s AI industry and the global talent who will shape the future technology paradigm. Going forward, SK hynix will continue to engage actively with experts in the semiconductor and AI fields and to advance its technological innovation.