High bandwidth memory (HBM) is becoming a key technology in the continuing AI investment race as SK hynix plans to spend billions on memory chip production and China's Huawei looks to develop its own in partnership with a local foundry.

SK hynix, the world's second-largest memory chip maker, will invest ₩103 trillion ($74.5 billion) in strengthening its semiconductor division between now and 2028, the company announced after a management strategy meeting in late June.

According to its investment plan, 80 percent of the total amount (₩82 trillion, or about $60 billion) is to be directed towards AI-related business areas such as HBM, BusinessKorea said, increasing production capacity to meet growing demand.

As The Register reported a while ago, SK hynix has already sold all the HBM chips it will make this year as well as most of its expected 2025 production, due to demand driven by the AI habit. The latter is partly because its HBM chips are optimized for use with Nvidia's advanced GPU accelerators, and the company was an early mover in the HBM market.