"Father of HBM" Kim Jung-ho: AI's Essence Is Memory, 3D Stacking Battle Will Be Decided by Cooling and Power Delivery, China and the U.S. Will Catch Up - finance.biggo.com

Kim Jung-ho’s assertion that 'AI is memory' exposes the fundamental bottleneck of von Neumann architecture. Technologically, this accelerates adoption of TSV, hybrid bonding, and silicon photonics, spiking demand for advanced packaging tools and EDA solutions. On compliance, U.S.-South Korea export controls on HBM are tightening; Chinese firms struggle with low TSV yields and CoWoS shortages, heightening near-term supply chain fragility. Strategically, SK hynix leads in HBM dominance, Samsung pushes X-Cube integration, Micron leverages Intel foundry access, while Taiwan, China’s TSMC fortifies its SoIC ecosystem. Over the next 12–24 months, thermal management and power delivery—not bandwidth alone—will dictate 3D stacking leadership. The race isn’t just about stacking dies; it’s about embedding liquid cooling and vertical power rails. Memory has become the new sovereignty of AI compute.