Anthropic in talks with Samsung for custom AI chip
SkimNews Take
Anthropic's parallel commitment to a multi-vendor stack while pursuing custom silicon suggests the Samsung chip would slot in alongside Google, Amazon, and Nvidia—likely targeting a specific workload where general-purpose hardware falls short rather than displacing existing suppliers.
Get the Tech newsletter
Daily tech — startups, AI labs, chips, the launches that shape the next decade. Free.
- Anthropic is in discussions with Samsung to explore collaboration on a custom AI chip, per The Information, though the chip's purpose, server integration, and power specifications remain undecided.
- Anthropic told TechCrunch that a diversified hardware stack—including chips from Google, Amazon, and Nvidia—will remain pivotal to its compute strategy, declining to elaborate on the Samsung talks.
- OpenAI announced a custom-built inference processor called "Jalapeño" developed with Broadcom last week, claiming it delivers better performance-per-watt than competing chips.
- Samsung already manufactures chips for Nvidia and uses Nvidia software in production, with the two companies jointly building an AI chip factory in South Korea.
- Samsung has separately discussed partnering with Google on chip-making efforts, situating it as a potential supplier across the AI industry's major players.
- Reuters reported in April that Anthropic was initially exploring its own AI chips as a response to industry-wide chip shortages.
Why it matters: Anthropic's Samsung talks land one week after rival OpenAI announced its own custom inference chip with Broadcom, accelerating the AI infrastructure arms race. Samsung's existing role as a major Nvidia manufacturing partner gives Anthropic a credible path toward chip diversification without abandoning its stated multi-vendor compute approach.
