Korean AI Beneficiaries Rush to Acquire U.S. Companies
Alina Collins
Samsung and SK Hynix, flush with a record ≈600 trillion won in combined profit, are pouring double the capital into U.S. AI assets — filling the vacuum left by sidelined Chinese buyers and becoming Asia's dominant acquirers in America.
How much money is flowing, and where is it coming from?
Korean FDI into the U.S. doubled year-on-year to $10.2 billion in Q1, a five-year high; the 2025 full-year total hit $25.7 billion, up nearly 15%.
Samsung and SK Hynix shares have more than tripled over the past year. Their combined operating profit is expected to reach a record ≈600 trillion won (~$400 billion) this year.
This means → the two chip giants have built up enough "M&A firepower" to move aggressively in the U.S.
What are they buying, and which bets stand out?
Samsung joined a $100 million round in ZutaCore, an AI data-center cooling specialist, and earlier backed AI chip firm Groq's $750 million raise — both targeting AI infrastructure bottlenecks: compute and heat dissipation.
SK Hynix pledged $10 billion for U.S. "innovative companies" and participated in a $120 million round for Avicena, a startup working on optical interconnects — a technology that uses light instead of electricity to link chips, boosting AI system efficiency.
In plain terms = Samsung is buying things that make AI faster; SK Hynix is buying things that make AI more energy-efficient.
Why Korean buyers — and no longer Chinese ones?
JPMorgan's North Asia M&A co-head Taewon Chang notes that just a few years ago, cash-rich Chinese firms were active bidders for Western assets, often paying premiums. Now they are effectively shut out of major U.S. acquisitions as U.S.–China relations have shifted.
Goldman Sachs Asia M&A head Sushil Bathija says: "The U.S. is the center of AI innovation, and Korea sits at the core from an Asian perspective — they have the capital and the access."
This reflects a structural shift: the gap left by retreating Chinese capital is being filled by Korean firms that have both the cash and the political runway.
Has the M&A wave already spilled beyond semiconductors?
Hyundai acquired Boston Dynamics, entering the robotics arena. Hanwha bought a Philadelphia shipyard in 2024, aligning with Washington's push to revive U.S. shipbuilding. SK Hynix closed its nearly $9 billion acquisition of Intel's NAND flash business.
Samsung has agreed to acquire healthcare platform Xealth; Doosan Robotics bought roughly 89.6% of Pennsylvania-based automation firm ONExia.
This means → the Korean shopping list now stretches from chips to robots, shipbuilding, healthcare, and factory automation — a full-spectrum industrial push, not just an AI story.
What role does tariff pressure play?
Korea has agreed to invest $350 billion under Trump's "Liberation Day" tariff framework in exchange for lower duties on Korean exports.
Samsung is building a $40 billion semiconductor fab in Texas; SK Hynix is spending roughly $4 billion on an advanced chip facility in Indiana.
In plain terms = the factories serve a dual purpose — commercial logic and tariff insurance. Investment buys market access; it is an implicit deal with Washington.
How long can this M&A wave last?
Samil PwC M&A partner David Sim says most, if not all, of Korea's top 30 conglomerates are actively evaluating North American acquisition targets.
AI-driven earnings expectations for Korean firms are set to rise further in the second half, and the market expects deal activity to keep accelerating.
This reflects a key variable that lies outside Korean firms' control: how long Chinese buyers remain sidelined. If the geopolitical landscape shifts again, the window could narrow at any time.
Content is for reference only, not financial advice.