In July, Samsung signed a deal with Tesla to make the car maker’s next-generation chip, AI6, for its future electric vehicles. Later, the American firm gave the South Korean tech giant the contract to manufacture its current-generation chip, AI5, as well. Before signing these two deals, Samsung was already making Tesla’s previous-generation chip, AI4, for its electric vehicles.
With so many deals in place between the two companies, Samsung’s Executive Chairman Lee Jae-Yong and Tesla’s CEO, Elon Musk, met at Samsung’s semiconductor plant in Taylor, Texas, to discuss various business topics (via Korea JoongAng Daily). Reportedly, the two reviewed production lines and discussed yield targets and possible future technological collaborations.
According to the report, Musk requested Lee to provide Tesla with a dedicated workspace inside Samsung’s semiconductor plant in Taylor, Texas, which will allow the car maker’s personnel to remain on site to monitor chip production directly.
Speaking of which, the report also claims that the two companies are testing a new business model for Samsung Foundry where the client can participate in every stage of the chip manufacturing, including chip design, plant construction, production lines configuration, and packaging, to speed up feedback cycles.
This business model is expected to attract more customers to the company. That’s not the only thing the tech giant is working on to attract more customers. It is also offering the Exynos 2600’s Heat Path Block (HPB) technology, which helps reduce chip temperature, to other firms, mainly to attract Apple and Qualcomm.
