Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong has returned to South Korea after a week-long business trip to the US. Lee reportedly met with Tesla CEO Elon Musk in Austin, Texas, with senior executives of Samsung's foundry division also present. It is also rumored that Lee met with AMD CEO Lisa Su to discuss HBM supply and foundry orders using advanced 2-nanometer process technology. These efforts are considered tactics to help Samsung regain leadership in AI semiconductors.
Samsung is currently supplying 12-layer HBM3E products for AMD's AI accelerator MI350. AMD is developing its next-generation AI accelerator MI450, targeting launch in the second half of 2026, and the product is expected to be equipped with 12-layer HBM4.
Leveraging its experience supplying HBM to AMD, Samsung is well-positioned to benefit from the HBM4 supply contract required for the MI450. Furthermore, if Samsung can successfully secure AMD's foundry orders within its aggressively promoted 2-nanometer mass production system, it would help lay the foundation for narrowing the gap with TSMC. Additionally, Lee has reportedly conducted on-site inspections in San Jose, California, where Samsung's Device Solutions America (DSA) headquarters is located.
Lee often meets with key industry figures such as Meta Chairman Mark Zuckerberg, Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan, and Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon during his business trips to the United States, and this trip is said to have followed a similar arrangement. He is expected to further refine Samsung's 2026 business strategy based on the outcomes of this trip.
Article translated by Emily Kuo and edited by Jack Wu
