Anthropic partners with Samsung to develop custom AI chip

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Artificial intelligence company Anthropic is reportedly exploring a strategic partnership with Samsung Electronics to produce a custom AI chip. The move signals intensifying competition in the global semiconductor industry amid surging demand for AI-based computing. According to a report by technology media outlet GSMArena on Saturday, the two companies are currently in the early stages of negotiation. If an agreement is reached, Samsung would be tasked with manufacturing a bespoke chip designed to support Anthropic’s generative AI models. The collaboration reflects a significant shift in the semiconductor industry. Rising demand for AI chips is prompting many technology companies to seek alternative suppliers beyond Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), which has long dominated the advanced chip manufacturing market. This situation presents a fresh opportunity for Samsung and Intel Corporation. Recent reports even suggest that Apple Inc. is reconsidering Intel as a chip supplier. Samsung is also said to be in discussions with Apple regarding potential cooperation in the semiconductor sector. Despite plans to develop a custom chip, Anthropic has confirmed that its data centre operations will continue to rely on key technology partners in the near term. The company will keep using Amazon Web Services’ Titanium chips, Google’s tensor processing units (TPUs), and NVIDIA Corporation’s graphics processing units (GPUs). However, the growing complexity of AI models means Anthropic requires more specific and efficient hardware to boost its future computing capacity. The trend of developing custom AI chips is also being pursued by other major players. OpenAI, for instance, is reportedly in negotiations with Broadcom Inc. to develop its own AI semiconductors. The move by Anthropic and Samsung demonstrates that the AI race is no longer confined to developing language models but is also expanding into the battle for chip technology, which will form the foundation of the artificial intelligence industry in the future.