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Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei speaks at an artificial intelligence (AI) session during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, on January 23, 2025 (local time). / AFP, Yonhap

Anthropic, the developer of the artificial intelligence (AI) model Claude, is in discussions with Samsung Electronics' foundry division to develop its own AI chips, US technology media outlet The Information reported on July 2 (local time), citing multiple sources.

According to the sources, Anthropic is considering the utilization of Samsung Electronics' 2-nanometer (nm) process and advanced packaging facilities, though the project remains in an early stage and has not yet entered detailed design, testing, or manufacturing phases.

Anthropic considers Samsung's 2nm process and advanced packaging

The Samsung Electronics 2nm process being evaluated by Anthropic is currently among the most advanced chip manufacturing processes in the industry, offering excellent power efficiency by increasing processor density. Advanced packaging technology characteristically reduces bottlenecks by positioning the main processor close to memory chips, thereby accelerating data transfer speeds.

Sources added that Anthropic is exploring the functional and performance levels of the chips, as well as server integration methods, and is concurrently holding discussions with multiple chip design firms. Alongside these efforts, Anthropic is also considering the adoption of chips from Microsoft (MS) and the British startup Fractile.

Last month, Anthropic recruited Clive Chan, an early member of OpenAI's custom chip team. Chan was the second person to join OpenAI's hardware team and has firsthand experience covering the entirety of OpenAI's custom chip project from its inception to its current progress.

On June 6 last month, he disclosed his departure from OpenAI and his move to Anthropic via the social media platform X, stating, "I couldn't shake the pull to climb a new mountain from scratch."

An illustration taken on March 1 (local time) shows the Anthropic logo. / Reuters, Yonhap

Samsung to add another major client after Tesla and Apple if it wins Anthropic chip order, strengthening foundry position

Anthropic raised $65 billion (approx. 100.165 trillion won) in its Series H funding round completed on May 28, which was co-led by Altimeter Capital, Dragoneer, Greenoaks, and Sequoia Capital, with Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and Micron participating as "strategic infrastructure partners." Its corporate valuation reached $965 billion (approx. 1,487 trillion won), surpassing OpenAI's $852 billion (approx. 1,313 trillion won) to claim the status of the world's highest-valued AI startup.

At the time, Anthropic stated that the three major memory semiconductor manufacturers, including Samsung Electronics, "play a key role in supplying logic chips." Following this comment, speculation arose within the industry that Samsung Electronics has a high probability of securing Anthropic's AI chip orders. This is because among the three major memory manufacturers, Samsung Electronics is the only one equipped with a foundry division for logic chip production.

If Samsung Electronics secures Anthropic's custom AI chips, it will lock in a new large-scale client following Tesla, Nvidia, and Apple. With Google also reportedly considering Samsung Electronics for the production of a portion of its next-generation Tensor Processing Units (TPUs), market attention is focusing on the possibility of Samsung Electronics' foundry business expanding its presence in the AI semiconductor market.

OpenAI unveils inference chip 'Jalapeno' with Broadcom, accelerating competition to break free from Big Tech GPU reliance

The competition among major AI developers to build their own AI chips is heating up rapidly to secure power efficiency and control over their infrastructure. Google possesses long-term development experience with its in-house TPU chips, while Amazon Web Services (AWS) operates "Trainium."

OpenAI unveiled its first inference chip, "Jalapeno," on the 24th of last month in collaboration with Broadcom, aiming for an initial deployment within this year. OpenAI completed Jalapeno in just nine months from design to completion. Broadcom CEO Hock Tan stated, "This is just the beginning of a multi-generational roadmap," adding that the chips will be deployed in gigawatt (GW)-scale data centers alongside partners like Microsoft.

Anthropic drew a line, clarifying that its custom chip plan is not intended to replace existing hardware partnerships. In response to a request for comment from The Information, Anthropic stated, "Nvidia's GPUs, Google's TPUs, and AWS's Trainium chips will continue to play a central role in our computing resources going forward."

Samsung and SK to build 4 memory factories in South Korea, eye on whether they can crack TSMC's monopoly

Whether Samsung Electronics secures the Anthropic chip order is directly tied to the dynamics of the advanced AI chip foundry market currently dominated by Taiwan's TSMC. The Samsung and SK groups clearly demonstrated their commitment to expanding AI semiconductor production capacity by announcing a $51.8 billion (approx. 80 trillion won) joint investment plan on the 29th of last month to construct four memory semiconductor factories in South Korea over the next decade.

However, The Information analyzed that since Samsung Electronics' foundry has previously experienced yield (ratio of defect-free products) issues in certain processes, the actual performance of its 2nm process will be a key variable in competing with TSMC. An industry insider noted, "Since this year, Samsung Foundry has introduced a process allocation system, creating an atmosphere where they selectively focus on solid projects rather than unconditionally accepting all client orders."

The Information pointed out that Anthropic appears to be joining the race late, amid a broader trend where AI developers are developing their own AI chips to reduce dependence on specific manufacturers and cut costs. According to market research firms, custom Application-Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs) are projected to grow 44.6% in 2026, expanding three times faster than general-purpose GPUs. In this market, Nvidia currently holds a market share of approximately 74%.

                                                                                                            Ha Man-joo