Anthropic explores custom AI chip development with Samsung

On Thursday, The Information reported that Anthropic is in contact with Samsung to explore a collaboration around a pending chip. The discussions represent a step forward from back in April, when Reuters reported that Anthropic was considering producing its own AI chips. However, the plans remain in their earliest stages. According to the report, Anthropic has not yet decided on the pending chip’s eventual use, how it will fit into a server, or how powerful it will be.

When reached for comment, Anthropic did not address the potential Samsung partnership directly, stating it had nothing further to add on the matter. However, the company asserted its commitment to its existing suppliers, stating that “a diversified hardware stack that includes chips from Google, Amazon, and Nvidia will continue to be pivotal to its compute strategy.” Currently, Anthropic’s hardware stack includes chips from Google, Amazon, and Nvidia. This existing setup includes Tensor Processing Units (custom-built chips by Google) alongside hardware from Amazon and Nvidia.

The move mirrors a broader industry trend of companies seeking to reduce their dependence on Nvidia, the current chip supplier and industry leader. Last week, competitor OpenAI teamed up with Broadcom to announce its own custom-built inference processor, named “Jalapeño.” Broadcom serves as OpenAI’s partner for custom chip development. Meanwhile, Samsung is expanding its own AI chip manufacturing capabilities. The company is currently working on an AI chip factory in South Korea, and is also a potential partner to Google.

Why it matters

As AI companies race to secure compute, developing custom chips is becoming a key strategy to reduce reliance on dominant suppliers, mirroring moves by competitors like OpenAI.