Samsung chip chief meets Nvidia’s Huang in Seoul to deepen AI partnership

Samsung Vice Chairman Meets Nvidia CEO in Seoul to Discuss HBM4 and Foundry Cooperation

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Jun Young-hyun met with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang at the Shilla Hotel in Seoul on Monday to discuss expanding cooperation on advanced memory chips and semiconductor manufacturing, as the two companies deepen ties across multiple fronts of the AI chip supply chain.

A Wide-Ranging Discussion

Following the meeting, Jun told reporters the conversation covered both near-term and longer-term collaboration. “We have collaborated with CEO Huang for a long time, and today was one of the best discussions we’ve had,” Jun said, according to the Chosun Ilbo. In the short term, the two sides discussed how to expand cooperation on HBM4 high-bandwidth memory and foundry services. For the mid- to long-term, they exchanged views on joint development including HBM4E, HBM5, and next-generation foundry work.chosun

Jun said Samsung and Nvidia are currently collaborating on autonomous driving chips and Groq AI accelerator chips at 4-nanometer and 8-nanometer processes, and are discussing cooperation on next-generation products. He pledged that Samsung would “stably supply HBM4 and SOCAMM this year,” referring to the LPDDR-based memory modules used in Nvidia’s next-generation Vera Rubin AI accelerator platform.channelnewsasia

Nvidia Qualifies All Three Memory Suppliers

The meeting came days after Huang confirmed on June 5 that all three major memory chipmakers — SK Hynix, Samsung, and Micron — have been qualified and are in production to supply HBM4 for the Vera Rubin platform. Vera Rubin has entered mass production and is expected to ship in the third quarter of this year.bloomberg

The confirmation ended months of supply-chain speculation about which chipmakers would make the cut for Nvidia’s next-generation architecture. Jun appeared to acknowledge the competitive pressure, responding to Huang’s earlier remarks on Monday calling SK Hynix “Nvidia’s biggest memory partner” by saying: “We will do our work diligently. We will show results.”yahoo

Stakes for Samsung’s Chip Business

The talks underscore Samsung’s effort to strengthen its position in the AI semiconductor supply chain after falling behind SK Hynix in the race to supply earlier generations of HBM chips to Nvidia. Samsung recently shipped samples of HBM4E, the seventh-generation product. The foundry discussions signal that Samsung’s contract chipmaking business, which has struggled to win major clients, could gain from closer ties with the world’s most valuable chip company.chosun