Following speculations that Nvidia is planning to rely on Samsung Electronics to produce next-generation graphic processing units, the US tech giant confirmed Tuesday that it had reached an agreement for foundry cooperation with the world’s largest chipmaker.

During a press conference in Seoul, Nvidia Korea chief Yoo Eung-joon said that its production of advanced GPUs will be conducted by Samsung Electronics with its 7-nanometer extreme ultraviolet process.

“It is meaningful that Samsung Electronics’ 7-nanometer process would be used in manufacturing our next-generation GPU,” said Yoo. “Until recently, Samsung has been working really hard to secure (partners) for foundry cooperation.” 

His remarks came after weeks of speculation that Nvidia had decided to choose Samsung over Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. for GPU production. According to Digitimes in Taiwan, Nvidia has decided to use Samsung’s 7-nanometer extreme ultraviolet technology to produce its GPUs in 2020.

While Yoo did not reveal the exact amount of foundry production by Samsung, he acknowledged that production would be “substantial.” He declined to comment on whether Nvidia is planning to make further requests to Samsung for foundry production.

Nvidia also said its efforts to acquire Israeli chip designer Mellanox are in the final stage. In March, Nvidia announced that it would acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Mellanox for $125 per share in cash.

“The acquisition is not closed yet, (but) last week Mellanox shareholders almost unanimously -- over 99 percent -- voted for acquisition,” said Nvidia Vice President Marc Hamilton, who is in charge of solutions architecture and engineering.

Stressing that the US government had approved the acquisition, Hamilton said there are a few more countries where Nvidia needs to go through the approval process. He expects the acquisition process to be finished no later than the year’s end.

Tuesday’s event was attended by various Korean companies seeking to capitalize on Nvidia’s advanced AI and machine-learning technology. Among them were Samsung, Hyundai Motor, Naver, SKT, KT and LG Uplus.

Ranging from autonomous driving to gaming content, Nvidia has been enhancing ties with Korean companies. The company has been working with Hyundai Mobis for self-driving technology and LG Uplus for cloud gaming service.

(jasonyeo@heraldcorp.com)