Samsung Electronics Decides on GPU Investment at Board Meeting – BusinessKorea
In a significant move within its management committee, Samsung Electronics has decided to invest in Graphics Processing Units (GPUs). While specifics of the investment have not been disclosed, it stands out as a departure from the typical agenda topics such as memory semiconductors and foundry services, which generally dominate discussions.
According to Samsung Electronics’ corporate governance report, the management committee ratified the "GPU Investment Proposal" in March. The committee comprises senior executives including Han Jong-hee, head of the Device eXperience (DX) division, and presidents of the Mobile Experience (MX) and Memory Business departments. This third meeting of the year marked the first GPU investment decision since the agenda item was publicly disclosed in 2012, sparking speculations that Samsung is poised to enhance its competitiveness in GPU-related business areas.
GPUs, primarily used in AI computations, are integral to high-bandwidth memory (HBM) products manufactured by companies like Samsung and SK hynix. The System LSI business division is also collaborating with AMD to develop GPUs for smartphone application processors, which holds promising prospects for the foundry business division that fabricates actual semiconductors based on these designs.
However, some interpret this investment as Samsung's internal strategy to utilize GPUs for enhancing semiconductor process innovation rather than developing and manufacturing GPUs. Samsung has expressed plans to continue its collaboration with Nvidia to develop AI-based digital twins for fully automated semiconductor factories by 2030, as announced at 'GTC 2024' this March.
Samsung is currently preparing to fully operationalize the newly constructed Hwaseong High-Performance Computing (HPC) Center at its Hwaseong campus. Construction began in November 2021, with completion achieved in April of this year. Despite the increasing complexity and miniaturization of semiconductor processes, Samsung's DS division has been building dedicated IT infrastructure at key manufacturing locations both domestically and internationally, aiming to enhance data utilization rates.
The substantial investments in GPUs for the Hwaseong HPC Center, which houses large-scale servers and network equipment necessary for semiconductor design, indicate the growing importance of AI computations in Samsung’s strategy.
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