AI Boom Rockets Chip Giants Samsung and SK Hynix to Record Highs as OpenAI Partnership Fuels Market Surge

Global semiconductor manufacturers are witnessing a surge in market capitalization, driven by investors capitalizing on the artificial intelligence (AI) boom, signaling a record high for tech stocks. This surge is largely attributed to a series of favorable news revolving around AI companies. Notably, OpenAI achieved a remarkable $500 billion valuation through a stock sale among employees and struck deals with several South Korean chip manufacturers such as Samsung and SK Hynix.

On Thursday, shares of South Korean memory chip giants, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, soared following their collaboration with OpenAI, the mastermind behind ChatGPT. This strategic partnership is part of OpenAI's "Stargate" project, aimed at supplying chips and other solutions needed for advanced AI applications.

As of now, Samsung's stock has risen by over 4%, reaching its highest level since January 2021. SK Hynix, too, recorded an all-time high, with a surge of over 11%. Year-to-date, Samsung's shares have increased by nearly 70%, while SK Hynix's stock has more than doubled, underscoring their substantial gains.

The sharp increase in stocks of these chip leaders has significantly bolstered South Korea's benchmark KOSPI index, which climbed by a record 3.2% at present. OpenAI's statement on Wednesday suggested that the partnership aims at boosting the supply of advanced storage chips crucial for next-generation AI, as well as expanding data center capacities in South Korea.

According to statements from Samsung and SK Hynix, the global expansion of the Stargate project could result in a demand from OpenAI amounting to 900,000 wafers per month. During this announcement phase, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman met with South Korean President Lee Jae-myung and top executives from Samsung and SK Hynix in Seoul.

Earlier this month, SK Hynix revealed its readiness to commence mass production of its next-gen high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips, consolidating its leadership within the AI value chain. HBM remains a pivotal component in AI applications, and the soaring demand for these chips is poised to significantly accelerate data processing speeds in data centers.

Notably, Nvidia, the global leader in AI processor manufacturing, is actively procuring the most advanced HBM chips, while companies like AMD and Broadcom are anticipated to hike their procurement efforts as their AI accelerators gain more traction.

In recent news, Samsung's fifth-generation 12-layer HBM3E successfully passed qualification tests with Nvidia, making Samsung the third supplier alongside SK Hynix and Micron Technology to receive Nvidia's HBM3E certification.