Samsung has begun trial production of Tesla AI chips using 2nm technology in Texas

It is widely believed that the chip foundry contract signed with Tesla allowed Samsung Electronics to restart its project to build a core factory in Tyler, Texas, and gave the company the opportunity to attract the attention of other potential customers to the new factory site. Trial production of wafers at Samsung’s new factory in Tyler has begun, sources said, ahead of schedule.

Image source: Samsung Electronics

Here, Korean contractors will use 2nm technology to produce artificial intelligence chips for Tesla. In the future, there will be a second company nearby that can master the production of 1.4nm wafers. Its construction will begin at the end of this year and will be completed in 2030. Samsung’s first factory in the region was initially expected to be fully operational no earlier than November, but high demand for AI chips and Tesla’s persistence have accelerated progress. The new factory will complete all process verification by the end of this year and can start full-scale wafer production according to customer orders starting next year. Initially, trial production of Tesla chips was scheduled to begin by the end of this year.

version Seoul Economic Daily According to reports, Samsung’s factory in Tyler has begun trial production of 2nm AI5 chips for Tesla. Tesla will start receiving AI5 chips produced here next year. In April this year, the company held an equipment installation ceremony. By mid-July, Samsung was ready to produce digital chip designs that will be used to actually process silicon wafers in factories.

By making full use of South Korea’s contracted production capacity, Samsung has accelerated the commissioning of new production lines in Texas. These production lines will use 4 nanometer and 2 nanometer technologies to produce chips. Last year, Tesla signed a $16.5 billion agreement with Samsung, which means that the latter actively uses contract production capacity in the United States to contract to produce the chips Tesla needs. AI5 will be the main product produced by Texas Samsung for Tesla. The chip’s versatility will allow customers to use it not only in onboard systems for electric vehicles, but also in Optimus humanoid robots and their data centers.

In addition to narrowing the gap with TSMC, Samsung’s U.S. operations in Texas will allow the company to expand its lead over China’s SMIC, which is already close to the South Korean contract chip manufacturing giant in terms of revenue. According to TrendForce, among these indicators, the gap between them was 0.5% as of the end of the second quarter of this year. At home, Samsung will be more active in introducing EUV lithography equipment, which its Chinese competitors cannot obtain due to sanctions from the United States and the Netherlands. Faster expansion of Samsung’s new business in Texas will help accelerate the company’s contract business to achieve breakeven.