[News] SK hynix CEO Reportedly to Meet Bill Gates, Deepening AI Memory Ties Amid Microsoft ASIC Push
Microsoft is continuing to deepen its custom chip push, with SK hynix expected to play an increasingly important role in the effort. According to The Korea Herald, sources say SK hynix CEO Kwak Noh-Jung is set to meet Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and CEO Satya Nadella this week at the closed-door Microsoft CEO Summit 2026 in Redmond, Washington. The report notes that his participation signals that the Korean memory chipmaker is becoming increasingly important to Microsoft’s efforts to build AI infrastructure less dependent on NVIDIA.
As the report notes, the invitation-only summit brings together around 100 global executives and policymakers for private discussions on generative AI, cloud infrastructure, and AI data centers. Kwak also attended the event in 2024.
Industry observers cited by JoongAng Economy News view Kwak’s move as a strategic effort to strengthen long-term supply stability with major customers and expand technological cooperation on next-generation HBM products as global AI infrastructure investment continues to grow.
SK hynix is already deeply embedded in Microsoft’s custom silicon strategy. According to Chosun Biz, Microsoft is a major customer of SK hynix, sourcing DRAM and NAND flash from the Korean memory maker while also adopting its fifth-generation HBM3E memory for the Maia 200 AI accelerator.
Microsoft is expanding deployment of the Maia 200 chip across its AI infrastructure. As noted by JoongAng Economy News, the company has deployed the chip at its Iowa data center and is extending adoption to its Arizona facility. The report adds that demand for high-performance memory used in AI servers and data centers is expected to rise accordingly.
According to TrendForce, Microsoft has raised its 2026 CapEx outlook to US$190 billion, implying roughly 130% year-over-year growth, with approximately US$25 billion attributed to rising component costs. TrendForce notes that CapEx expansion among North American CSPs is outpacing the global average, with investment increasingly concentrated on deploying high-performance GPU clusters and developing in-house ASICs.
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(Photo credit: Kwak Noh-Jung on LinkedIn)
