The giants got along. Tesla will buy a $ 16.5 billion from samsung chip

The South Korean Samsung Electronics conglomerate announced on Monday the receipt of an order for the supply of semiconductors worth 22.8 trillion won (approx. $ 16.4 billion), without giving the name of the client. A few hours later, Elon Musk confirmed that Tesla placed an order, suggesting that the scale of the contract may be much larger.

“Samsung agreed to help Tesla to maximize the efficiency of production. The new, huge Samsung factory in Texas will serve to produce the new generation of Tesla AI6 chip. It is difficult to overestimate the strategic meaning of this agreement,” Musk wrote on platform X. He added that the value of $ 16.5 billion is “only the absolute minimum”, and the actual production will probably be repeatedly higher. The contract is to apply until 2033.

The value of the contract – as the South Korean conglomerate in the statement informed – is about 7.6 percent. estimated Samsung's turnover at 2024.

Although the detailed schedule of the production of AI6 chip chips has not been given, their production will start after the production of AI5 chips at the end of 2026.

AI Tesla chips are advanced processors, specially designed by the concern, which are of key importance for the development of autonomous driving systems (full self-driving) and robotics (including humanoid Optimus robots).

This agreement is an important impulse for Samsung, which is struggling with the competition on the chip market for artificial intelligence, giving way to leaders such as Taiwan Semiconductor Co. (TSMC) and South Korean SK Hynix. As Ryu Young-Ho notes, the NH Investment & Securities analyst, Samsung Factory in Texas “Until now, it has practically no customers, so this order is very significant.”

After the announcement of information about the contract, Samsung Electronics shares increased by 6.83 percent. and at the closure they reached 70.4 thousand. won.

Musk also added that Samsung Electronics is currently producing AI4 chips, while the competitive TSMC will produce AI5 chips for Tesla. The design of these chips has just been completed, and the production will start first at the TSMC plants in Taiwan, and then in Arizona.

Krzysztof Pawliszak (PAP)

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