Samsung Electronics has won a contract from Preferred Networks, a Japanese AI company, to provide turnkey semiconductor solutions using the 2-nanometer (nm) foundry process. Financial details were not provided.
Preferred Networks will use Samsung’s foundry and advanced packaging products to develop AI accelerators to address demand for computing power driven by generative AI.
The 2.5D Advanced Package I-Cube S technology included in the turnkey solutions, is a heterogeneous integration package technology, with multiple chips in one package to enhance inter-connection speed and reduce package size.
It is the first order Samsung has revealed for its 2-nanometre chip contract manufacturing process.
The use of the silicon interposer (Si-interposer) is crucial in achieving ultra-fine redistribution layer (RDL) and stabilizing power integrity for optimal semiconductor performance. GAONCHIPS, a specialized system semiconductor development company, designed the chip.
“Samsung’s 2nm GAA process will support Preferred Networks’ efforts to build highly energy-efficient, high-performance computing hardware that meets the ever-growing computing demands from generative AI technologies, especially large language models,” said Junichiro Makino, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Computing Architecture at Preferred Networks.
“This order is pivotal as it validates Samsung’s 2nm GAA process technology and Advanced Package technology as an ideal solution for next-generation AI accelerators,” said Taejoong Song, Corporate VP and the head of Foundry Business Development Team at Samsung Electronics.
Preferred Networks develops advanced software and hardware technologies by vertically integrating the AI value chain from chips to supercomputers and generative AI foundation models. It provides solutions and products for various industries such as manufacturing, transportation, healthcare, entertainment and education.
Tokyo-headquartered Preferred Networks is a major player in the AI market, achieving first place three times in the past five years on the Green5002 list of supercomputers.
Samsung and Preferred Networks plan to showcase AI chiplet solutions for the next-generation data center and generative AI computing market in the future.
