Source: The Next Web
Nvidia is locking down supply of the one component that has consistently constrained AI chip performance—high-bandwidth memory (HBM)—by signing a manufacturing and design partnership with SK Hynix rather than relying on spot purchases. This mirrors how the semiconductor industry solved previous bottlenecks: memory, not logic, is now the scarce lever in AI infrastructure. SK Hynix gains guaranteed demand; Nvidia reduces geopolitical and supply-chain risk that could throttle data center growth. The multi-year commitment reflects both parties' expectation that HBM scarcity will persist through the next hardware cycle—this is allocation management, not innovation.