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Overview
AI chips are starving for memory. On August 4, 2026, SK hynix and Sandisk published the first open technical standard for a possible fix: High Bandwidth Flash, or HBF.
The design stacks cheap flash memory (NAND) next to the processor. It promises up to 8 to 16 times the capacity of today's premium AI memory at a similar price. Google and the chip firm Tenstorrent have joined the effort, a sign the idea has real industry backing.
Why it matters
If HBF works, AI chips could hold entire large models right next to the processor for far less money, cutting the cost of running AI.
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People Involved
Organizations Involved
A flash-memory maker that proposed High Bandwidth Flash as a NAND-based way to feed AI chips more data at lower cost.
The South Korean memory maker that leads in high-bandwidth memory for AI and is now co-developing a flash-based alternative.
An industry group that publishes open designs for data-center hardware so different companies' parts can work together.
Timeline
August 2025 August 2026
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First open HBF standard released at FMS 2026
Today MilestoneSK hynix and Sandisk publish the first HBF technical specification through the Open Compute Project. Google and Tenstorrent join the effort. It defines up to 512 GB per stack and about 3.0 TB/s.
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HBF work formally starts inside the Open Compute Project
StandardizationThe two companies begin global standardization under a dedicated HBF workstream at the Open Compute Project.
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Sandisk and SK hynix agree to standardize HBF
PartnershipSandisk brings in SK hynix to co-develop High Bandwidth Flash as a shared industry standard, not a single-vendor product.
Historical Context
3 moments from history that rhyme with this story — and how they unfolded.
High-bandwidth memory standardized (2013–2015)
SK hynix and AMD co-developed high-bandwidth memory (HBM), stacking DRAM chips next to a processor for far faster data flow. JEDEC published the standard in 2013. The first product shipped in AMD's Fiji graphics chip in 2015.
HBM was expensive and niche at first, used mainly in high-end graphics and specialized computing.
HBM became the default memory for AI accelerators, and SK hynix's early lead turned into a dominant, high-margin business.
HBF follows the same playbook: a memory maker and partners set an open standard early, hoping to own the next AI-memory tier.
Intel Optane and 3D XPoint (2015–2022)
Intel and Micron launched 3D XPoint, sold as Optane, a memory tier meant to sit between fast DRAM and slower flash storage. It promised near-DRAM speed with far more capacity.
Optane found some use in data centers but never reached the volume needed to bring prices down.
Intel wound down the Optane business in 2022 after years of losses, and the between-tier product line was discontinued.
HBF also fills the gap between fast memory and bulk storage. Optane shows that a clever middle tier can still fail if the economics do not work.
Compute Express Link consortium formed (2019)
Intel and a group of chip and cloud firms launched Compute Express Link (CXL), an open standard for connecting processors to pooled memory. It grew to include most major hardware vendors.
Early CXL products were limited, and adoption took several years to build.
CXL became a widely backed way to expand and share memory across servers, absorbing rival efforts along the way.
Like CXL, HBF is being pushed as an open, multi-vendor standard. Broad backing early is meant to avoid a format war and speed adoption.
