Samsung is strengthening its collaboration with Tenstorrent, a Canadian AI chip startup led by semiconductor legend Jim Keller. (Image courtesy of Samsung Electronics)
SEOUL, Jul. 23 (Korea Bizwire) – In a strategic move to secure a leading position in the next-generation artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductor market, Samsung Electronics is ramping up investments in AI chip companies.
Industry sources reported on July 22 that the Samsung Catalyst Fund (SCF), a venture capital fund that operates under the Samsung Semiconductor Innovation Center (SSIC), recently participated in a $75 million investment round for DreamBig Semiconductor, a U.S.-based AI chip startup. The exact amount of Samsung’s investment was not disclosed.
Founded in 2019, DreamBig specializes in developing cutting-edge chiplet platforms that facilitate the expansion of processors and accelerators. The company has focused on large language models (LLMs), generative AI, data centers, edge computing, and automotive applications.
The Series B funding round for DreamBig was co-led by the SCF and the founders of global fabless semiconductor company Marvell Technology Group, Sehat Sutardja and Weili Dai. New investors, including a venture fund created by Hanwha, Event Horizon, and Raptor, also participated in the round.
Marco Chisari, the Samsung Electronics vice president who heads the SSIC, expressed enthusiasm about the collaboration, stating, “We are pleased to co-lead DreamBig’s Series B round and work with an outstanding team pioneering the optimization of chiplet-based AI solutions.”
Samsung headquarters in Seoul’s Seocho district (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
The investment will be used to develop and commercialize products based on DreamBig’s chiplet hub and platform. Industry observers speculate that DreamBig’s technology, which enables 3D high-bandwidth memory (HBM) stacking and provides powerful performance and efficiency in memory bandwidth, could potentially be incorporated into Samsung’s future AI semiconductors.
Earlier this month, SCF also participated in a $68 million Series B funding round for Axelera AI, a Dutch AI solutions startup. Founded in 2021, Axelera AI provides specialized AI hardware acceleration technology for generative AI and computer vision inference.
Samsung is also strengthening its collaboration with Tenstorrent, a Canadian AI chip startup led by semiconductor legend Jim Keller. Tenstorrent, a key customer of Samsung’s foundry business, designs computers for training and running AI models using the open-source RISC-V architecture instead of Intel x86 or ARM designs.
In August of last year, the SCF joined a $100 million investment in Tenstorrent led by Hyundai Motor Group. While specific investment amounts were not disclosed, industry analysts believe Samsung made a substantial contribution.
This partnership is expected to accelerate the adoption of Tenstorrent’s RISC-V-based computer and AI acceleration architecture, with potential collaborations between Samsung and Tenstorrent on the horizon.
Beyond semiconductors, Samsung Electronics is intensifying its efforts to integrate AI across various sectors, including biotechnology and electronic medical devices, through acquisitions and investments in relevant companies.
Kevin Lee (kevinlee@koreabizwire.com)
