Startups in South Korea, known for their expertise in chip manufacturing, are increasing their efforts to design artificial intelligence chips to tap into the fast-growing global market for AI computing. Some of these fabless companies, which do not have their own production facilities, are receiving support from Samsung Electronics and the government.
Rebellions, founded in 2020, is collaborating with Samsung's foundry division to develop a next-generation AI chip. This chip, intended for generative AI computing, will integrate Samsung's advanced HBM3E memory chip and is expected to debut in the market in the second half of this year. They anticipate this chip becoming a new option for international companies operating large AI data centers.
Sapeon, a spinoff from South Korea's leading telecom company SK Telecom, plans to deliver its AI chip to customers by June, following its launch last November. These chips are manufactured by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. using its cutting-edge 7-nanometer production technology.
These developments come as global semiconductor companies race to take advantage of the AI boom sparked by OpenAI's ChatGPT service launch in November 2022. Nvidia is leading the market with its graphic processing units powering accelerated AI computing.
