OpenAI Taps Samsung for Next-Generation Chip Development

OpenAI is deepening its partnership with Samsung Electronics to include joint production and research on next-generation chips, a significant move as the artificial intelligence leader expands its custom hardware ambitions. The collaboration builds on existing ties in memory chips and enterprise AI services, signaling a multi-faceted alliance between the two technology giants.

Expanding Semiconductor Alliance

The expanded cooperation was announced by Harrison Kim, General Manager of OpenAI Korea, at a press conference in Seoul on Wednesday. The partnership will focus on developing OpenAI's own chips, a critical component for powering its increasingly complex AI models.

"One of the areas where we have made the most progress and gained the most recognition with Samsung Electronics is our joint production and research on the next-generation chips we are developing," Kim stated, according to Reuters. He also highlighted that Samsung is "one of the largest-scale deployments of ChatGPT globally." Samsung Electronics issued a statement that it could not confirm information related to customers.

Strategic Push into Custom Silicon

This partnership marks another step in OpenAI's strategy to develop specialized hardware, aiming to optimize performance and potentially reduce its reliance on third-party chip providers. The move into custom silicon is a key trend among major AI players seeking to control their technology stack from software to hardware.

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• The collaboration follows OpenAI's unveiling of its first custom AI chip, Jalapeno, in June, which was designed with Broadcom for AI inference tasks.
• While Taiwan's TSMC was tapped to manufacture the Jalapeno chip, the new cooperation with Samsung, a leader in both memory and foundry services, broadens OpenAI's hardware supply chain.
• Last year, Samsung and SK Hynix signed letters of intent to supply memory chips for OpenAI’s ambitious Stargate data center project.

Surging Enterprise AI Demand in Korea

The deepening ties come amid surging demand for generative AI in South Korea. OpenAI reported that the number of ChatGPT Enterprise users at South Korean firms has surged approximately 28-fold as of August compared to the previous year, as businesses integrate AI into functions like finance, sales, and legal operations.

This trend is mirrored within Samsung itself, which in June permitted employees in its device division to use AI tools like ChatGPT, Google's Gemini, and Anthropic's Claude for internal work. According to OpenAI, South Korea had the largest number of paying ChatGPT subscribers outside the United States as of late last year, underscoring the market's strategic importance.