Samsung draws AI chip work from BYD, Google and AMD

BYD, Google, AMD, Tesla and other chip buyers have stepped up talks with Samsung Electronics for contract manufacturing as AI infrastructure orders consume advanced production at TSMC, Nikkei Asia reported Wednesday.

The report puts Samsung back in the center of a foundry market that TSMC has led for years. AI chip designers need advanced process nodes, high-end packaging and stable production slots. TSMC cannot add those at the speed cloud companies, automakers and chipmakers want.

Samsung gives those buyers a second route. The company runs memory, logic and foundry operations under one roof, and its Samsung Foundry business has pushed gate-all-around transistor technology as it tries to win more advanced chip contracts.

TSMC still holds the strongest position in advanced foundry work. Apple, Nvidia, AMD and other major designers rely on TSMC for leading-edge chips. The AI boom has tightened that position because Nvidia GPUs, custom cloud accelerators and related networking silicon all compete for advanced capacity.

Samsung benefits from that squeeze. Buyers that once treated Samsung as a backup can now use it to reduce schedule risk, gain price leverage and secure future capacity. That shift matters for AMD, which sells AI accelerators against Nvidia and needs enough supply to meet cloud demand. It also matters for Google, which builds its own Tensor Processing Units for AI workloads.

Automakers add another layer. BYD and Tesla need more compute in vehicles, factories and energy systems. As software-defined cars use more AI inference and advanced driver-assistance features, automakers need stronger chip supply chains. Foundry access has become a strategic issue for car companies, not a procurement detail.

Samsung still has to prove execution. Advanced foundry customers care about yield, power efficiency and design support. A chip designer can lose months if silicon misses performance targets or if production volumes lag. Samsung has the scale to compete, but customers will measure it by delivered wafers and usable chips.

The market context favors a stronger No. 2 supplier. AI infrastructure spending has pushed cloud providers toward custom silicon, and each new accelerator generation demands more advanced manufacturing. Buyers can sign long-term deals with TSMC, but capacity limits force them to seek parallel paths.

That does not mean Samsung will take the lead from TSMC soon. TSMC has deep customer trust, strong ecosystem support and a record of high-volume execution. Samsung’s opportunity sits in the gap between what buyers want and what TSMC can supply.

For Samsung, more requests from BYD, Google, AMD and Tesla would help its foundry unit improve utilization, fund process development and attract more design partners. The company also gains a strategic edge when customers need memory and logic together for AI systems.

For chip buyers, the Samsung option reduces dependence on one manufacturer. That gives procurement teams more room to plan launches, negotiate capacity and manage geopolitical risk across Taiwan, South Korea and the U.S.

AI has turned foundry capacity into a boardroom issue. Companies that secure advanced production can ship accelerators, cloud services and AI-enabled products on schedule. Companies that miss capacity windows may watch rivals take the next wave of spending.