Samsung to develop AI chips with Canadian startup Tenstorrent

Canadian startup Tencent, which builds artificial intelligence (AI) processors, has formed a new partnership with Samsung's chip manufacturing unit.

On October 2, the startup announced its partnership with Samsung, saying it will use the partnership to bring “the next generation of AI chips to market.” Tenstorrent produces chips and intellectual property (IP) for data centers.

The deal involves using one of Samsung's advanced manufacturing processes, the SF4X process, and 4nm architecture to produce next-gen chips. According to the announcement, the product produced with Samsung will be a chiplet that will be combined with other chips in a single package.

According to Tenstorrent CEO Jim Keller, the goal is to develop “high-performance computing” and provide these solutions “to customers around the world.”

In August, Tenstorrent closed a $100 million round of funding led by both Samsung and automotive manufacturer Hyundai. At the time, Tenstorrent said the funds would go towards accelerating its product development and design, AI chiplets and machine learning software roadmap.

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This development comes in the heat of the race to develop the most powerful AI chips to create high-end AI systems.

Currently, Nvidia is the market leader in terms of chip development and chip strength. Earlier this year, the company briefly announced a $1 trillion valuation amid AI frenzy.

While Nvidia remains at the top of the pack for chip development, it has recently been subject to an antitrust investigation by French authorities. Local police raided Nvidia's offices after French antitrust authorities launched a sweeping investigation into the cloud computing sector.

Following the events in France, on October 2, the European Union's antitrust regulators did not open a formal investigation into AI chips, according to a Reuters report.

Regulators in the United States are actively pushing to regulate the industry and have imposed a ban on exports of high-end Nvidia technology to China in October 2022. They have stepped up further measures in recent months. As Nivea is a US company, it is subject to US regulations and restrictions.

The US also recently struck a multibillion-dollar deal on AI chips and AI tech with Vietnam, a traditional trade partner with China and a former US adversary.

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