SK hynix has written down its AI venture Gauss Labs by $25.3 million, reflecting a strategic shift towards Nvidia's AI platform. The move comes as SK Group prioritises a broader partnership with Nvidia over its in-house AI development. SK Group and Nvidia are building an "AI factory" data centre in Korea featuring 50,000 Nvidia GPUs, with phase one scheduled for completion by end of 2027. The facility will support digital twins and AI agents, providing cloud services for SK Group affiliates and external customers. SK hynix already uses Nvidia-accelerated software from Cadence, Siemens and Synopsys for DRAM and flash memory production. The company plans to deploy autonomous factories by 2030 using Nvidia's Omniverse platform. The write-down reflects the growing trend of industrial firms adopting established AI platforms rather than building proprietary solutions.

New features added in order to improve accuracy and usabilitySK hynix expands adoption of Gauss Labs's solution to etching process in addition to thin film deposition processGauss Labs plans to expand its presence in global industrial AI market with strong references in semiconductor manufacturingSEOUL, South Korea, Aug. 12, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Gauss Labs announced today that it released the second version of its AI-based virtual metrology* solution, Panoptes VM 2.0.*Metrology: a process of measuring the physical and electrical characteristics to ensure that requirements are met in the manufacturing processGauss Labs Releases AI-Based Virtual Metrology Solution, Panoptes VM 2.0Panoptes VM provides all-wafer measurement data in real-time by predicting process outcomes from sensor data. By applying this solution, it is possible to predict the process results of all products without physical full-scale measurement, significantly reducing time and resources.Gauss Labs said that Panoptes VM 2.0 is making a new leap forward with new modeling features including the Multi-Step Modeling, Operation-Group Modeling and Automatic Model Selection. With these new features, the prediction accuracy and usability have been greatly improved, compared to the previous version.Gauss Labs, an industrial AI company invested by SK hynix, first launched Panoptes VM 1.0 in November 2022. The system has been deployed to the thin film deposition* process at SK hynix's high-volume manufacturing fabs since December 2022. By integrating the virtual measurement results from Panoptes VM with APC*, SK hynix improved process variability* by approximately 29% and also enhanced yield rate.*Thin film deposition: the process of creating and depositing thin film coatings onto a substrate material*APC(Advanced Process Control): a solution that adjusts process condition for equipment adaptively during a manufacturing process*Variability: the scale of the quality variation of the products from a certain process