Chey Tae-won, chairman of SK Group, said on the 20th (local time), "SK hynix's operating profit outlook for this year could exceed $100 billion (about 145 trillion won)."
At a welcome address for "Trans-Pacific Dialogue (TPD) 2026," hosted by the Chey Institute for Advanced Studies at the Salamander Hotel in Washington, D.C., on this day, Chey stated accordingly that "the spread of artificial intelligence (AI) is fundamentally changing the structure of the semiconductor industry."
Regarding SK hynix's earnings outlook, he said, "In December last year, this year's operating profit was expected to be over $50 billion, and in January, we thought it could be over $70 billion, and now the new estimate is that it could exceed $100 billion."
He added, "This sounds like really good news, but at the same time it could be a loss of $100 billion," and said, "Volatility is very high, and new technology can be a solution but it can also wipe everything out."
Chey added, "We are standing at the dawn of inevitable change, and in this transition AI is swallowing everything."
SK hynix posted an all-time high last year with sales of 98 trillion won and operating profit of 47 trillion won. This figure, based on operating profit, surpassed Samsung Electronics' 43.6 trillion won for the first time, as a surge in demand for HBM drove results.
Chey assessed that the memory market structure is being fundamentally reshaped by an explosion in AI demand. He said, "Memory for AI is in severe short supply, and this year's shortage will exceed 30%," adding, "It's because AI infrastructure is sucking up all the memory chips."
In particular, referring to high bandwidth memory (HBM), SK hynix's core product, as a "monster chip," he said, "These days this monster chip is the product that really brings big money to our company, and the current margin (profit margin) is over 60%."
He went on, "But this (semiconductor chip) shortage is creating a completely different story," saying, "The margin for HBM is 60%, but the margin for general memory chips is around 80%, and in some cases there is even a distortion where selling general chips is more profitable."
Chey said, "Another problem is the non-AI sector; even PC and smartphone makers can't build as many applications as before, and some of them will probably shut down," adding, "This shortage is changing the structure of global industry completely."
Chey also pointed to energy and finance as key tasks in the AI era. He said, "AI is swallowing the energy and electricity we need," adding, "So these days we are preparing a new solution to build AI data centers together with power plants."
He continued, "Another problem is probably finance, that is, the expense of AI infrastructure," adding, "It still costs almost $50 billion to build a single data center. The United States is seen as needing about 100 gigawatts (GW) of AI data center capacity, which would mean $5 trillion for data center infrastructure alone, excluding energy costs."
He said, "What is clear is that no one can stop the AI race, and those with capital and resources will probably get AI solutions in hand and become the front-runners in the AI race."
During the event, Chey met with Korean reporters and explained the background of meeting with executives including Jensen Huang, chief executive officer (CEO) of Nvidia, as well as Meta and Microsoft (MS), during this U.S. trip.
He said, "I went to say sorry for not being able to provide memory," adding, "Right now we cannot supply as much memory as our clients want."
During this U.S. trip, Chey met in succession with Jensen Huang; Hock Tan, Broadcom's CEO; Satya Nadella, MS CEO; Mark Zuckerberg, Meta CEO; and Sundar Pichai, Google CEO.
In particular, on the 5th, he had a "chimaek" get-together with Jensen Huang at 99 Chicken, a Korean-style pub, in Santa Clara, California. The meeting was also joined by Chey Yoon-chung, head of strategy at SK Biopharmaceuticals, and Madison Huang, the daughter of CEO Huang.
Regarding the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling on this day that tariffs imposed by the Donald Trump administration under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) were illegal, he answered, "After I read the opinion, I'll see if there's anything I can say."
On semiconductor tariffs that the U.S. side is expected to impose going forward, he said, "We'll have to see how the negotiations proceed, and I'm not in a position to comment in advance," adding, "For Korea to become one team and handle these issues well seems important."
TPD, hosted by the Chey Institute for Advanced Studies, is a collective intelligence platform where current and former high-ranking officials from Korea, the United States, and Japan; world-renowned scholars; think tanks; and business figures gather to discuss international issues in Northeast Asia and the Pacific region and seek solutions for economic and security cooperation. It began in 2021 and marks its fifth year this year.
Kim Yu-seok, president of the Chey Institute for Advanced Studies, said, "Marking the fifth anniversary of TPD, we were able to revisit the strategic significance of Korea-U.S.-Japan cooperation amid a rapidly changing global order," adding, "We will continue to create forums to seek practical solutions in key areas that determine national competitiveness, such as AI and energy."