SK Hynix Weighs Intel's Ohio Site in Bid for First U.S. Memory Plant

SK Hynix is negotiating to put advanced memory manufacturing on American soil for the first time — and Intel's long-delayed Ohio complex is the prize on the table.

Reuters reported on September 16 that the Korean memory giant is discussing several possibilities with Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), including leasing part of Intel's Ohio site or forming a venture that would bring Intel and large cloud customers into the same structure. SK Hynix said no specific plan has been finalized.

The stakes are considerable. Intel has committed enormous capital to Ohio, with the broader project potentially reaching around $100 billion over time. Delays have pushed planned production into the next decade. A tenant or joint-venture partner would help Intel share the financial burden of developing the site rather than relying entirely on its own foundry demand to justify the buildout.

Why Micron Should Watch Closely

For Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU), the talks strike at one of its strongest strategic advantages: it is the major U.S.-based memory producer at a moment when AI has made DRAM and HBM increasingly scarce.

Micron sits on the other side of the equation. AI demand has pushed memory pricing and availability into a strong cycle, and Micron is already pursuing a large U.S. manufacturing expansion. More domestic manufacturing incentives and customer interest in secure supply support that plan.

A successful SK Hynix move could eventually erode part of that differentiation. U.S. cloud companies would gain another potential domestic supplier, while additional long-term memory capacity could loosen the market that currently supports exceptional pricing.

The Bear Case

Exploratory talks remain a long way from revenue. Bringing advanced Korean memory production to the U.S. could face cost problems, technology-transfer restrictions and objections from Seoul. And Intel still needs its core manufacturing roadmap to work for any Ohio scenario to make sense.

Hedge Funds Piled Into Both Names

Institutional positioning shifted sharply in the second quarter. Insider Monkey tracked 138 hedge funds holding Intel in Q2, up from 112 in Q1. AQR Capital Management held roughly 10.7 million shares after trimming its stake about 7%.

Micron's hedge fund count rose to 184 from 154 — one of the stronger quarter-over-quarter increases among large semiconductor names. Coatue Management expanded its MU stake dramatically during the quarter.

Short sellers remain focused on Intel but not overwhelmingly. The stock had about 152.2 million shares sold short as of August 31, roughly 3% of public float and 1.7 days to cover.

The Bigger Picture

The talks do not rescue Intel's foundry strategy or weaken Micron overnight. They do show what AI scarcity is doing to the supply chain. Memory manufacturing is becoming strategic enough that SK Hynix is considering putting advanced capacity on American soil — and Intel's delayed Ohio project suddenly gives the company a potentially valuable asset to negotiate with.