Samsung Electronics’ Pyeongtaek campus, the world’s largest semiconductor production complex. Foundry lines based on 4-, 5-, and 7-nanometer processes are in operation at Pyeongtaek’s second (P2) and third (P3) fabs. Photo courtesy of Samsung Electronics
Anthropic, a global artificial intelligence (AI) model developer, is in talks with Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) to produce advanced AI chips, U.S. information technology (IT) outlet The Information reported Monday.
According to the outlet, Anthropic is reviewing a plan to produce its advanced chips using the 2-nanometer (nm, one-billionth of a meter) process and advanced packaging facilities of Samsung Electronics’ foundry (contract chip manufacturing) division. The 2nm process is currently the most advanced process in the foundry industry and can significantly increase chip integration density.
Anthropic said in May this year that the three major memory makers participated in its Series H investment as “strategic infrastructure partners.” In particular, it noted that the three major memory makers were “playing a key role in supplying not only memory but also logic chips.” The industry analysis suggested that among the three companies — Samsung Electronics, SK hynix, and Micron — Samsung Electronics is effectively the only one capable of logic chip cooperation.
Against this backdrop, the possibility that Samsung Electronics could take on the production of Anthropic’s AI chips has been raised, and this foreign media report has heightened expectations for its realization. Anthropic is in the early stages of developing the chip. The company said it is in discussions with several chip design firms but has not yet reached the detailed design, testing, or manufacturing stages.
As AI chip developers focus on developing their own chips (ASICs) to compete with Nvidia’s graphics processing units (GPUs), foundry demand is also rising, fueling expectations that Samsung Electronics could benefit. If Samsung Electronics wins the Anthropic chip order, it could secure another Big Tech company as a foundry customer, following Tesla, Nvidia, and Apple.