San jose: SK hynix Inc. announced plans to establish an autonomous semiconductor manufacturing facility by 2030 to boost production capacity and meet the surging demand for artificial intelligence (AI) chips.

According to Yonhap News Agency, Doh Seung-yong, head of digital transformation at SK hynix, highlighted the challenges faced by the semiconductor industry during a panel session at the ongoing GTC 2026 in San Jose, California. He noted that while AI demand is rapidly increasing, semiconductor manufacturing is unable to expand at the same pace.

SK hynix is currently expanding its capacity in South Korea and the United States to meet the growing demand. However, Doh emphasized that building more fabrication plants is not the sole solution. "New fabs take a long time to build and to ramp up. So we have to do two things at the same time: expand capacity and improve productivity in existing fabs," he stated. This dual approach is why SK hynix is moving toward establishing an autonomous fab by 2030.

Although Doh did not specify the location of the future facility, he mentioned that SK hynix is utilizing Nvidia's Omniverse platform. This platform is an open environment for virtual collaboration and real-time simulation, which is expected to play a crucial role in the company's transition to an autonomous manufacturing model.