AMD CEO says S. Korea key partner in AI chips

By Kim Han-joo

SEOUL, Oct. 7 (Yonhap) -- Lisa Su, chief executive officer (CEO) of Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD), on Wednesday emphasized the importance of partnerships with South Korean chipmakers, saying the company expects to explore opportunities in both memory and foundry businesses.

Su, along with Jack Huynh, senior vice president and general manager of AMD's Computing and Graphics Group, made the remarks on the sidelines of AMD Gamer Day 2026 in central Seoul.

"I think visiting (South) Korea is so important. So much is happening in the artificial intelligence (AI) space right now," Su told reporters, noting that AMD continues to explore opportunities with South Korea's major chipmakers -- Samsung Electronics Co. and SK hynix Inc.

The visit marks Su's second trip to Seoul in seven months, underscoring South Korea's critical role in the global technology ecosystem as both a major supplier and consumer of AI hardware.

Later in the day, Su is scheduled to meet with Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Jun Young-hyun, who heads the company's semiconductor business, and SK hynix CEO Kwak Noh-jung.

The meetings come as shortages of a broad range of memory products strain the global electronics industry and pose challenges to the expansion of AI infrastructure and services.

"Semiconductors is a team sport. A team sport means there is collaboration," Su said, emphasizing the importance of cooperation across memory and foundry.

The AMD CEO also said the company has received strong support from Samsung Electronics in high-bandwidth memory (HBM).

In March, AMD and Samsung agreed on a supply deal covering next-generation HBM and other advanced memory chips.

Samsung Electronics has maintained a partnership with AMD in the memory sector, supplying HBM3E, the fifth-generation HBM, and HBM4, the sixth-generation version, for AMD's latest AI accelerators.

AMD previously designated Samsung Electronics as a preferred supplier of HBM4 for its next-generation Instinct MI455X AI accelerator.

As AMD has repeatedly highlighted the need to expand supplies of its AI accelerators, speculation has also grown over potential cooperation with Samsung in contract chip manufacturing, leveraging the South Korean tech giant's advanced foundry processes.

AMD develops central processing units and graphics processing units and is one of the major players in the global AI semiconductor market alongside Nvidia Corp.