Meta pauses custom AI chip project with Samsung

Meta Pauses Custom AI Chip Project With Samsung

Meta has requested a temporary suspension of its custom AI chip development project with Samsung Electronics’ System LSI division, according to Korean media reports, dealing a blow to the semiconductor giant’s ambitions to expand its foundry customer base for artificial intelligence workloads.

A Setback for Samsung’s Foundry Ambitions

The halt is a setback for Samsung, which stood to gain from both the chip design work and subsequent foundry production of the custom silicon. Neither Meta nor Samsung has publicly commented on the reasons behind the suspension, and it remains unclear when or if the project will resume.sammyfans

The pause comes at a complicated time for Samsung’s foundry division, which has struggled to compete with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company for advanced AI chip contracts. Earlier this year, Samsung’s new foundry chief pledged to improve yields on advanced 2-nanometer processing technology and secure more AI chip manufacturing clients.kedglobal

Meta’s Broadcom Partnership Looms Large

The suspension follows Meta’s announcement in April of a major expanded partnership with Broadcom to co-develop multiple generations of its next-generation MTIA chips through 2029. That deal, which includes an initial commitment exceeding one gigawatt of computing capacity, positions Broadcom as the primary design partner for Meta’s custom AI silicon.fb

Meta disclosed in March that it is developing and deploying four new MTIA chip generations — the 300, 400, 450, and 500 — through 2027, all manufactured by TSMC. The MTIA chips are designed for inference and recommendation workloads across Facebook and Instagram, with newer generations targeting generative AI tasks.cnbc

Context and Implications

Meta’s relationship with Samsung on custom chips traces back to 2024, when CEO Mark Zuckerberg met with Samsung leadership to discuss semiconductor cooperation, partly motivated by a desire to reduce reliance on TSMC amid geopolitical uncertainty. However, Meta’s deepening relationship with Broadcom and continued manufacturing with TSMC appears to have shifted the calculus.tweaktown

For Samsung, the loss is compounded by the company’s ongoing efforts to prove its foundry capabilities to major AI customers. Despite record earnings driven by memory chip demand — with operating profit reaching an estimated 57.2 trillion won in the first quarter of 2026 — its contract chipmaking business has lagged behind TSMC in securing high-profile AI clients.morningstar