Meta switches from TSMC to Samsung Foundry for AI chips, 'uncertainty and volatility' at TSMC

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said that he will be working with Samsung in the AI semiconductor sector, to lessen the reliance on using TSMC.

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Mark Zuckerberg with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol (source: The Korea Times)

The news is coming from the South Korean presidential office, where Zuckerberg had a 30-minute meeting with President Yoon Suk Yeol in Seoul. Zuckerberg recognized Samsung for its status as one of the largest foundry companies in the world, with competitors like TSMC and Intel.

A senior official at Yoon's office told reporters: "Zuckerberg said Samsung's status can be the key point in their cooperation". The official added: "His remarks mean that Samsung's status can help in stabilizing Meta's heavy reliance on TSMC under the current geopolitical situation".

Zuckerberg attended a dinner at Samsung's VIP guest house in Seoul, with the Meta CEO having dinner with Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jay-yong. Meta hasn't said a word about what the two executives discussed, but I'm sure it would be many things in the future of Meta (AI processors, headsets, displays for headsets, Meta-powered Samsung TVs, etc).

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The discussions between Meta and Samsung would involve semiconductor cooperation, as Meta is building a stockpile of AI hardware that will power its next-generation large language model (LLM) known as Llama 3.