To completely break away from reliance on NVIDIA's computing power, OpenAI is accelerating the construction of its own hardware empire, with South Korean semiconductor giant Samsung becoming its most critical ally.

According to the latest report from the Korean Economic Daily, Samsung Electronics has planned to supply its next-generation high-bandwidth memory HBM4 chips to OpenAI. These top-tier storage chips will be directly used in OpenAI's first self-developed artificial intelligence processor, marking this ChatGPT developer's official transition from a software leader to a hardware innovator.

The Computational Ambitions Behind the "Star Gate" Project

This collaboration is not a spontaneous decision. Last year, Samsung had already signed a memorandum of understanding to support OpenAI's ambitious "Star Gate" (Stargate) project. With the explosive growth of global large model parameters, the demand for high-bandwidth memory has reached its peak, and Samsung's HBM4 will become the key to breaking through the bottleneck of self-developed chips.

Strong Partnership: Broadcom Design, TSMC Manufacturing

According to industry sources, OpenAI's first custom AI chip was co-developed with Broadcom and will be manufactured by TSMC. The specific supply plan has already been scheduled:

  • Supply Volume: Samsung plans to supply up to 8 billion Gb of 12-layer HBM4 chips in the second half of this year.

  • Production Timeline: The chips are expected to be produced by TSMC starting in the third quarter, with a goal of officially launching them by the end of 2026.

Samsung's Global Strategy: Partnering with AMD to Challenge Competitors

In addition to OpenAI, Samsung is also expanding its AI network. On Wednesday, Samsung Electronics signed a strategic cooperation memorandum with AMD, confirming that it will become the core HBM4 supplier for AMD's upcoming AI graphics processing unit (GPU).

By securing two major clients, OpenAI and AMD, Samsung is building a solid defense wall in the AI memory market. When OpenAI's self-developed chips are paired with Samsung's fastest memory, the global AI computing landscape may undergo a complete transformation by 2026.