SEOUL, June 19 (AJP) - Intel, seeking to reverse years of decline in the AI era after losing its semiconductor crown, has appointed former SK hynix and SK On chief Lee Seok-hee to lead key foundry operations that the company views as its quickest route back to growth.
Lee was named executive vice president of Intel Foundry and will report directly to CEO Lip-Bu Tan, overseeing advanced packaging, system integration, and back-end technology development and manufacturing.
The appointment underscores how dramatically the AI era has reshuffled the semiconductor hierarchy.
Once the undisputed leader of the global chip industry, Intel has struggled to keep pace after missing several technological transitions, from advanced manufacturing to AI accelerators. While Nvidia has emerged as the dominant force in AI computing and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. has become the world's indispensable contract manufacturer, Intel has been recast from industry standard-bearer to a laggard racing to regain relevance.
The company is now betting that foundry services, advanced packaging and system-level integration offer its fastest path back into the AI supply chain.
Lee's ties to Intel run deep.
After earning his doctorate from Stanford University, he spent more than a decade as a researcher at Intel before moving to KAIST and later to SK hynix, where he was appointed president and chief executive in December 2018.
During his tenure, he oversaw the acquisition and integration of Intel's NAND flash business into the unit that became Solidigm, a process that kept him in close contact with Intel's leadership for several years.
Industry sources told JoongAng Ilbo that Lee and Tan built a strong working relationship during that period and that Tan personally drove the recruitment based on Lee's technical judgment and global manufacturing experience.
Lee later joined SK On as president in 2024, taking charge during a downturn in electric vehicle demand. He stepped down at the end of May after completing the restructuring of SK On's battery joint venture with Ford, according to The Elec.
In Intel's announcement, Lee described the move as "a return home."
Lee is the first figure from Korean academia or industry to be recruited directly into the headquarters of a top-tier global Big Tech company at the executive vice president level and underscores epic rise of SK hynix in AI chip hierarchy.
SK hynix has become one of the biggest beneficiaries of the artificial intelligence boom by establishing an early lead in high-bandwidth memory, or HBM, a specialized memory chip that has become an indispensable component of AI accelerators, particularly powering Nvidia chips.
SK hynix dominates around 60 percent of HBM market and its stock has surged more than 10 times from a year ago period.
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