[Edaily Reporter JAEMIN SONG ] Lisa Su, Chairwoman and CEO of AMD, visited Korea for the first time in seven months and met successively with the heads of SamsungElectronics and SK hynix’s semiconductor divisions. Amid tight memory supplies—including high-bandwidth memory (HBM)—due to surging demand for artificial intelligence (AI) accelerators, this move is seen as an effort to strengthen mid- to long-term supply chain cooperation with domestic semiconductor companies.

Chairwoman Su arrived at SamsungElectronics’ Seocho headquarters in Seocho-gu, Seoul, around 4:44 p.m. on the 7th. Kim Jae-jun, Vice President and Head of Strategic Marketing at SamsungElectronics’ Memory Business Division within the Device Solutions (DS) Division, and Cho Sang-yeon, Vice President and Head of SamsungElectronics’ DSA (Americas) division, were on hand to greet Chairwoman Su.

When asked by reporters whom he was scheduled to meet that day, Chairman Su replied, “SamsungElectronics has many partners.” Regarding whether he would meet with SamsungElectronics Chairman Jay Y. Lee, he remained tight-lipped, stating, “It’s difficult for me to comment on that.” As for the topics to be discussed that day, he said, “We will talk about our broader partnership.”

It is reported that Chairman Su also met with Kwak No-jeong, President and CEO of SK hynix, prior to his visit to SamsungElectronics. At SamsungElectronics, he will meet with key executives, including Vice Chairman Jeon Young-hyun, CEO and Head of the DS Division, to discuss ways to collaborate on AI semiconductors. As AMD accelerates the expansion of its AI accelerator business, the importance of cooperation with the two leading South Korean memory companies—which dominate the global HBM market—is growing.

◇ Importance of Collaboration with Korean Memory Companies Grows as AI Accelerators Expand

At the heart of this series of meetings is the memory supply chain necessary for expanding the AI accelerator business. Chairman Su met with reporters that day at Dragon City in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, and said, “Memory is absolutely essential for computing as a whole,” adding, “The current supply situation is very tight.” He went on to say that the company is building deep partnerships across the entire memory supply chain and is encouraging its partners to expand production capacity as quickly as possible.

The collaboration between AMD, SamsungElectronics, and SK hynix is expected to continue into next-generation products. Chairwoman Su said, “This was made possible thanks to the support of our partners, SK hynix and SamsungElectronics,” adding, “We will collaborate not just on a single generation of products, but across multiple generations.” She also emphasized that AMD has been incorporating HBM into its products since 2015.

She also left open the possibility of expanding the scope of cooperation with SamsungElectronics beyond memory to include foundry services. Chairwoman Su said, “Samsung is a good partner in many areas,” adding that AMD continues to seek opportunities for cooperation with SamsungElectronics in various fields, including foundry services. Given that Vice President Kim, who oversees strategy and marketing for Samsung’s memory business, and Vice President Cho, who leads the U.S. DS business, personally welcomed Chairman Soo that day, attention is focused on memory supply—including HBM—and mid- to long-term business cooperation.

Chairman Su also emphasized the importance of collaboration as the reason for his consecutive meetings with executives from SamsungElectronics and SK hynix. “Ultimately, semiconductors are a team sport,” he said, adding, “A team sport means it requires tremendous cooperation.” He continued, “I meet with all our partners on a very regular basis,” noting, “When so much is happening in the AI sector, as it is now, the more we communicate with our partners, the better we can respond to the market as a whole.”

During his visit to South Korea, Chairman Su also emphasized the need for medium- to long-term cooperation that goes beyond the immediate supply shortage. “It is crucial to plan with our partners with a view to the next three to five years, not just one, two, or three years,” he said, noting that close communication with key partners is essential given the complexity of supply chains.

Following a meeting with domestic AI semiconductor companies that morning, Chairman Su continued his visit with a series of meetings with key semiconductor executives, including President Kwak and Vice Chairman Jeon. He is scheduled to wrap up his day’s schedule with a meeting with SamsungElectronics executives before returning to the United States.