[Exclusive] AMD's Lisa Su likely to meet Samsung chip chief Jun Young-hyun as 'AI alliance' reunites

[Financial News] Lisa Su, AMD's chair and chief executive officer (CEO), is visiting South Korea and is reportedly also expected to meet Jun Young-hyun, head of Samsung Electronics' Device Solutions (DS) Division and vice chairman.
It comes about seven months after the two companies formalized cooperation in AI semiconductors, including high-bandwidth memory (HBM), during Su's visit to South Korea last March. As AMD moves to expand supplies of AI accelerators, there is growing interest in whether the two companies will discuss follow-up cooperation in areas including HBM and foundry (semiconductor contract manufacturing).
Industry sources said on the 7th that Su is expected to meet Vice Chairman Jun during her visit. With a packed schedule of official events on the morning of the first day of her visit, from meetings with the government and South Korea's AI industry to AMD Gamer Day, the two sides are expected to meet that afternoon.
Su did indeed hold a roundtable in the morning at the Four Seasons Hotel in Jongno-gu, Seoul, with the Ministry of Science and ICT and AI semiconductor companies. Furiosa AI, HyperExcel, DEEPX and Mobilint, among others, attended. At 2 p.m., she will attend AMD Gamer Day at Dragon City in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, and connect with Korean gamers.
The meeting between Su and Vice Chairman Jun will be their first in about seven months, since last March. At the time, Su visited Samsung Electronics Pyeongtaek Campus with key semiconductor executives, including Jun Young-hyun, head of the DS Division, and toured production lines and other facilities. Su also signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to expand cooperation in next-generation AI memory and computing technologies. AMD then designated Samsung Electronics as a preferred supplier of HBM4 (sixth-generation HBM) for its next-generation AI accelerator, AMD Instinct MI455X.
Whether cooperation between the two companies will expand into foundry services is also drawing interest. The previous meeting reportedly included a meeting with Han Jinman, head of Samsung Electronics' Foundry Business, as well as discussions between Samsung Electronics and AMD about the possibility of foundry cooperation, including contract manufacturing for next-generation semiconductors.

[email protected] Lim Subin, Kim Hakjae Reporter