Nvidia: "Collaboration with SK Hynix Boosts Chip Process Efficiency by 360 Times"

Tim Costa Presents at SK AI Summit
"Physical AI Will Drive Innovation Instead of Generators"
Plans to Build 50,000-GPU Factory with SK Hynix
"Nvidia-SK Hynix Partnership Expected to Expand"

The Chief Technology Officer of Nvidia, a leader in the artificial intelligence (AI) ecosystem, described the relationship between AI technology and semiconductor design and manufacturing as a "virtuous cycle" that accelerates both fields. As an example, he mentioned Nvidia's collaboration with SK Hynix to apply AI physics models to semiconductor process simulation (TCAD), stating, "We have observed up to a 360-fold improvement in performance."

Tim Costa, Head of Semiconductor Engineering at Nvidia, made these remarks during his presentation on "AI Supercomputing for Next-Generation Semiconductor Design and Manufacturing" at the 'SK AI Summit 2025' held at COEX in Seoul on the afternoon of November 3. He analyzed, "Just as the dynamo (generator) drove the Industrial Revolution, physical AI factories will transform even energy into intelligence." He explained that while electrification powered past industrial revolutions through generators, intelligence based on physical AI will be the driving force of the future era.

On the 3rd, SK Hynix's high-bandwidth memory HBM3E was exhibited at the 'SK AI Summit 2025' exhibition hall held at COEX in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News

Costa emphasized the need for innovation across the entire semiconductor manufacturing process, from chip design to system integration. "The essential tool for this is the AI supercomputer," he said, adding, "By leveraging graphics processing units (GPUs) and AI, we can accelerate semiconductor design and manufacturing workloads and enhance engineers' efficiency and productivity through the construction of digital twins." As an example, he introduced Nvidia's next-generation AI accelerator architecture, 'Blackwell,' highlighting, "This technology is more than just remarkable; it demonstrates the power of global collaboration and innovation."

Additionally, Nvidia unveiled a technology that enables the semiconductor design and manufacturing process to be implemented virtually through its AI-based semiconductor physics simulation platform, Physics NeMo. The core advantage is the ability to conduct process and material experiments without actually producing wafers or materials, dramatically improving development efficiency.

On the 3rd, the 'SK AI Summit 2025' event is taking place at the COEX Auditorium in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

Costa presented the results of the collaboration model with SK Hynix. "By applying AI physics models to semiconductor process simulation (TCAD) in partnership with SK Hynix, we have confirmed up to a 360-fold improvement in performance," he emphasized. He further noted, "SK Hynix is adopting Nvidia's 'NeMo' model and agentic AI platform to enhance the design efficiency of semiconductor engineers."

He also referred to Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's announcement of plans to build a large-scale AI factory with SK, equipped with more than 50,000 GPUs, and evaluated, "This collaboration will expand into various areas, including chip design, sovereign AI factories, digital twins, robotics, and agentic AI development." He concluded, "The partnership between Nvidia and SK Hynix will serve as a catalyst for Korea to establish itself as a key hub in the global AI infrastructure."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.