[Exclusive] SK hynix Becomes First Korean Semiconductor Firm to Win IEEE Innovation Award... 'Leading the AI Revolution with Jensen Huang'

SK hynix will receive the Corporate Innovation Award from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) in recognition of its development of HBM (High Bandwidth Memory), a core memory technology for the artificial intelligence (AI) era.

SK Hynix to Receive IEEE Corporate Innovation Award. IEEE Official Website

According to industry sources on April 23, IEEE plans to present the award to SK hynix at the "IEEE Awards" ceremony held in New York on April 24 (local time). IEEE explained that SK hynix is being honored for pioneering innovation and deployment of HBM, which has enabled AI computing.

HBM is a key technology that addresses data bottlenecks—otherwise known as the "memory wall"—that occur during large-scale AI computations. IEEE stated, "SK hynix is credited with commercializing this technology, expanding its application to global AI systems, and making a tangible contribution to the advancement of AI infrastructure."

The IEEE Corporate Innovation Award has previously been awarded to leading global technology companies such as Intel (2016), Apple (2020), TSMC (2021), and AMD (2025). Among Korean companies, Samsung Electronics won the award in 2010 for its Mobile WiMAX technology. However, this is the first time that a Korean company is being recognized specifically for semiconductor and AI infrastructure technology. Even NVIDIA has not won this award before.

At this year’s ceremony, Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA, will receive the highest honor, the "Medal of Honor." Although the announcement of Jensen Huang’s award was made during the CES event in January, the actual presentation is taking place at this ceremony.

Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA, is speaking at the announcement ceremony of the IEEE Medal of Honor winners held in Las Vegas, USA, last January. Photo by Paek Jongmin, Tech Specialist

The IEEE Medal of Honor, established in 1917, is the most prestigious award given by the IEEE. It is presented only to individuals who have made a significant impact on humanity in the fields of engineering and science.

CEO Huang is being recognized for ushering in the era of generative AI through GPU-based computing architectures.

The industry attaches great significance to the fact that the two awardees represent the core pillars of the AI industry. NVIDIA paved the way for AI computing with GPUs, and SK hynix expanded that path into a superhighway with HBM.

Kim Joungho, professor at KAIST who led the development of HBM, commented on the award, saying, "As the era of AI agents begins and the capacity of KV cache required for computation continues to grow, the importance of SK hynix’s HBM memory technology is increasing even further."

IEEE is the world’s largest technical professional organization, with more than 500,000 members globally. It operates technology standards, academic activities, and award systems with the mission of ‘Advancing Technology for Humanity.’

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