SEOUL, June 29 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's memory chipmakers Samsung Electronics and SK hynix announced large-scale investment plans on Monday in a bid to meet surging demand for chips used for artificial intelligence (AI).
SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won said at a national briefing, hosted by President Lee Jae Myung, that SK will newly invest 1,100 trillion won (713 billion dollars) in building new semiconductor production lines and 1,000 trillion won (648 billion dollars) in AI data centers.
Chey noted that his group will continue to domestically invest an annual average of over 100 trillion won (65 billion dollars) for the next 10 years.
Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong said he was considering the southwestern city of Gwangju as the site for new semiconductor production lines, planning to build high-bandwidth memory production facilities in Chungcheong province and focus investment for AI data centers and robotics in North Gyeongsang province.
President Lee expressed his gratitude for the major domestic investments, pledging the government's full support. ■
