[News] OpenAI Says It Is Working with Samsung on Next-Gen Chips; Ties Could Expand Beyond Memory
OpenAI is pushing deeper into custom AI silicon, and Samsung may be playing a growing role in its chip ambitions. According to Reuters, Harrison Kim, General Manager of OpenAI Korea, said the two companies have made significant progress in working together on the production and research of OpenAI’s next-generation chips, though Kim did not specify Samsung’s exact role.
Kim pointed in particular to the growing importance of memory as OpenAI advances its chip strategy. He said demand for memory chips will continue to grow as more advanced semiconductors are needed to support faster and more complex computing, making cooperation with South Korean suppliers a priority.
That memory partnership has been taking shape since last year. MS TODAY notes that Samsung and OpenAI signed a letter of intent (LOI) in October 2025 to cooperate on global AI infrastructure, with Samsung Electronics joining OpenAI’s Stargate project as a strategic memory partner supplying high-performance, low-power memory. At the time, Samsung estimated that OpenAI’s memory demand could eventually reach up to 900,000 DRAM wafers per month.
OpenAI Advances Multi-Generation Custom Chip Roadmap
For OpenAI’s first custom chip, Jalapeño, TSMC is handling manufacturing, while Samsung is reportedly supplying HBM4. Unveiled in June and developed with Broadcom, the inference accelerator reached tape-out in about nine months with the help of AI models, MS TODAY notes. Aju News adds that Samsung Electronics’ sixth-generation HBM4 will be used in the chip.
Notably, Jalapeño is only the first step in OpenAI’s broader custom silicon roadmap. OpenAI said in August that its second-generation chip is deep in development, while a third generation is also taking shape.
Samsung–OpenAI Chip Cooperation Could Extend Beyond Memory
Against that backdrop, the latest cooperation could open up opportunities for Samsung beyond AI memory, including its foundry and advanced packaging businesses, MS TODAY notes. However, the report cautions that it is too early to interpret the cooperation as Samsung securing orders for OpenAI’s custom chips, as details including the manufacturer, manufacturing node, and production volume have yet to be disclosed.
Meanwhile, Samsung is also drawing interest from other major AI developers for custom chips. According to The Information and Yonhap News, Anthropic, the developer of Claude, is reportedly exploring Samsung Foundry’s 2nm process and advanced packaging capabilities, though discussions remain at an early stage and have yet to move into detailed design, testing, or manufacturing.
Read more
- [News] OpenAI Debuts Jalapeño AI Inference Chip, with Samsung Reportedly Supplying HBM4
- [News] Anthropic Reportedly Eyes Custom AI Chip; in Talks with Samsung for 2nm Foundry and Advanced Packaging
(Photo credit: OpenAI)
