Key Highlights
- Samsung revealed plans to commence volume manufacturing of Tesla’s AI6 chips at its Taylor, Texas facility during the latter half of 2027
- Samsung’s Foundry division leader shared the news during Wednesday’s shareholder gathering
- The manufacturing agreement originates from a $16.5 billion multi-year contract finalized with Tesla in July of the previous year
- Samsung entered into a memorandum of understanding with AMD for HBM4 memory delivery for AMD’s upcoming MI455X AI accelerator chips
- Samsung Electronics shares climbed 7.5% in Seoul trading, surpassing the Kospi benchmark index’s 5% increase
Han Jin-man, Samsung Electronics President overseeing the Foundry Business division, delivered two significant announcements to shareholders Wednesday that triggered strong market enthusiasm.
Samsung shares surged 7.5% during Seoul trading sessions. The wider Kospi benchmark advanced 5% that same trading day, demonstrating Samsung’s superior performance driven by these strategic announcements.
Han verified that Samsung’s Texas-based Taylor manufacturing facility will initiate high-volume production of Tesla’s upcoming AI processor during the second half of 2027. He characterized the Tesla partnership — encompassing self-driving technology and robotics applications — as “a significant milestone” for the foundry division.
“Mass production of Tesla’s next-generation chip will commence at our Taylor U.S. fabrication facility in the latter half of next year, with both design specifications and manufacturing processes advancing according to plan,” Han stated.
The processor under discussion is Tesla’s AI6 chip. Elon Musk verified via X platform last year that Samsung’s Taylor operations would be responsible for its production.
This manufacturing schedule stems from a $16.5 billion long-term agreement both companies executed in July 2024. This contract represented a significant victory for Samsung’s foundry operations, which continues efforts to narrow the competitive distance with industry leader TSMC.
Advanced Micro Devices Collaboration
In addition to Tesla, Samsung leveraged the shareholder meeting to reveal a distinct memorandum of understanding with Advanced Micro Devices.
According to this MOU, Samsung will provide HBM4 — next-generation high-bandwidth memory — for AMD’s forthcoming Instinct MI455X AI acceleration processors. The MI455X graphics processing unit represents a cornerstone of AMD’s Helios rack-scale infrastructure designed for artificial intelligence workloads.
The partnership also encompasses potential delivery of cutting-edge memory solutions for AMD’s sixth-generation EPYC central processors.
Complementing the memory supply arrangement, both organizations explored a possible foundry collaboration. This would position Samsung to deliver contract semiconductor manufacturing services for upcoming AMD products, although no definitive agreement on manufacturing has been finalized.
Market Performance
AMD stock declined marginally by 0.14% during the trading session. Tesla shares increased 0.94%.
Samsung’s 7.5% surge in Seoul represented the primary market story. The stock’s performance emerged during a session when the broader Korean equity market posted gains, yet Samsung’s rally proved exceptional.
Han’s remarks were unambiguous: Samsung anticipates its foundry operations advancing significantly through the Tesla collaboration. The Taylor manufacturing plant, which encountered production obstacles in previous years, now stands positioned as critical infrastructure for one of the semiconductor industry’s most closely monitored manufacturing contracts.
