Executives on the Frontlines: How Tech Giants Are Battling Memory Shortages with Global Diplomacy
Nvidia’s CEO is flying to China, but the real battle is over memory chips and who can secure them first.
"Breaking bread while brokering deals."
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is reportedly visiting China, South Korea, and Taiwan to secure H200 AI accelerators and memory supply agreements with Samsung, SK Hynix, and TSMC. OpenAI's Sam Altman met TSMC and Foxconn executives in 2025, while Alibaba, ByteDance, and Tencent dispatched teams to Korea for memory chip allocations.
Microsoft, Meta, and Google sent purchasing executives to Korea in December 2024 to secure memory components, with Google allegedly firing staff who failed to meet supply targets. Trendforce reported a 'top-tier PC company' secured memory deals with Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron after executive visits.
Apple and Qualcomm are pursuing glass cloth fiber suppliers in Japan and China to address bottlenecks. "Unassuming restaurants in Taiwan and other regions have become ground-zero for billion-dollar deals."
