AI Chips: Samsung and AMD Expand Strategic Collaboration

Samsung and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) will collaborate on next-generation AI memory and computing solutions. Both companies announced the signing of a corresponding letter of intent on Wednesday in a joint press release in a joint press release.

As part of the agreement, Samsung and AMD will coordinate the supply of Samsung's High-Bandwidth Memory (HBM4) for AMD's next-generation AI accelerator (Instinct MI455X) and optimized DDR5 memory for AMD's sixth-generation EPYC processors (codename “Venice”), the statement said. Both companies will also explore opportunities for a foundry partnership, under which Samsung would provide contract manufacturing services for AMD's next-generation products.

Long-term supply partnerships in demand

The South Korean tech group and the US semiconductor manufacturer have been collaborating in graphics, mobile, and computing technologies for almost two decades, according to their own statements. Among other things, Samsung is AMD's most important supplier of HBM memory and supplies HBM3E chips for AMD accelerators MI350X and MI355X. In the future, both intend to work even more closely on advanced memory technologies for AI and data center applications to provide customers with optimized AI infrastructure.

The agreement underscores the growing scope of the collaboration, said Young Hyun Jun, Vice Chairman and CEO of Samsung Electronics, in the announcement in the announcement. “From industry-leading HBM4 and next-generation memory architectures to cutting-edge foundry and advanced packaging technologies, Samsung is uniquely positioned to deliver unparalleled end-to-end solutions that optimally support AMD's AI roadmap.”

Amidst the global AI boom, chip and tech groups are competing for long-term supply partnerships for advanced memory technologies. Just last month, AMD agreed with Meta on a framework agreement worth many billions of US dollars. Over five years, the Meta group intends to purchase AMD AI accelerators with a total capacity of six gigawatts (GW). If everything goes according to plan, Meta will receive AMD company shares in return. In the fall of last year, AMD had already concluded a similar deal with OpenAI. Samsung, the world's largest manufacturer of memory chips, is trying to reduce the gap to its competitors in the rapidly growing HBM segment.

(akn)