Alibaba, Tencent, and ByteDance seek long-term memory deals with Samsung and SK Hynix

China’s three largest internet companies are trying to lock down the memory chips that power AI servers, and they are reportedly willing to sign up for a very long time to get them. Alibaba, Tencent, and ByteDance are negotiating long-term supply agreements with Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix for DDR5 and LPDDR5 memory. The goal is to feed a fast-growing buildout of AI data centers. The catch is that much of what they want has already been spoken for. What the Chinese giants are asking for The talks center on two kinds of memory. Server-grade DDR DRAM is the workhorse memory sitting next to processors in data center machines. LPDDR is the low-power variant, built to do similar work while drawing less electricity. What stands out is the contract length. The Chinese firms are reportedly seeking deals stretching as far as 2035. Industry norms for these long-term agreements, known as LTAs, typically run 3-5 years. The three companies are also reportedly prepared to pay premiums to guarantee reliable supply. Why supply is so tight The scramble makes more sense once you see the queue. US hyperscalers, including AWS, Microsoft, Google Cloud, and Meta, have already secured substantial me...