SK Hynix announced plans to invest 54 trillion Korean won, or about $38.1 billion, to expand its memory chip manufacturing capacity, betting on sustained artificial intelligence demand. The South Korean semiconductor giant said Friday it will build two new fabrication plants for next-generation memory products. The investment includes 35.2 trillion won for the Y2 fabrication plant in Yongin and 19.1 trillion won for the M17 facility in Cheongju, designed to increase production of DRAM and NAND flash memory. Soaring demand for high bandwidth memory (HBM), essential for AI accelerators from companies such as Nvidia, has created a supply crunch and fueled a sharp increase in memory chip prices over the past year. Investors have rewarded leading suppliers including SK Hynix, Samsung Electronics and Micron Technology with strong stock gains. According to Counterpoint Research, Samsung reclaimed the top position in the global DRAM market by share during the second quarter. Neil Shah, vice president of research and co-founder of Counterpoint Research, said the new investment is aimed at securing SK Hynix's long-term manufacturing footprint rather than boosting immediate production, adding it is "built for 2029 and beyond." The Yongin Y2 facility is the second of four fabrication plants planned for the Yongin Semiconductor Cluster, with construction scheduled to begin in July 2027 and the first cleanroom expected to open in June 2029. The Cheongju M17 facility will focus on NAND