The NAND maker is reportedly asking Washington to allow new equipment into its Dalian plant as it weighs a major US investment tied to AI-driven storage demand.
Solidigm, the US-based NAND flash memory subsidiary of SK Hynix, is reported to be in talks with the US Department of Commerce over a possible new semiconductor manufacturing plant in the United States. According to Bloomberg, the investment under discussion could begin at about $45 billion and, over time, rise to as much as $100 billion, with New York among the locations being considered and construction possibly starting as early as next year.
The proposed project is being linked to a wider strategic trade-off. Bloomberg said Solidigm is seeking approval to ship US-made semiconductor equipment to its existing site in Dalian, China, where the company wants to upgrade production using newer manufacturing processes. The company has argued that higher output and improved profitability from that plant would help generate the cash needed to fund the American factory, while technology developed in China could later be transferred to the new US site.
That request cuts directly across Washington’s China policy. The US has tightened export controls on advanced chipmaking tools and has been limiting what equipment can go into Chinese facilities. The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security revoked Samsung Electronics’ and SK Hynix’s verified end user status in China last year, replacing it with a system that requires annual approvals for needed tools. Against that backdrop, Solidigm’s proposal amounts to a test of how far the Trump administration is willing to bend its restrictions in return for more domestic chipmaking capacity.
The timing is also notable. SK Hynix scrapped plans for a Solidigm initial public offering just days earlier, after opposition from regulators and shareholders. Tom’s Hardware reported that Solidigm has confirmed plans for a US fab, although it has not disclosed the capacity, cost or timetable. The company has said it is reviewing potential NAND factory locations around the world, while declining to comment on its talks with US officials. The broader significance is clear: as demand for high-capacity enterprise storage rises alongside artificial intelligence infrastructure, memory makers are increasingly being pulled between the need to invest in the United States and the practical dependence of their supply chains on China.
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