Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, is currently making his way through various countries in Asia. During a meeting with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Thursday, he expressed his desire for Meta to strengthen its collaboration with Samsung Electronics when it comes to AI chips. This move is aimed at offsetting the geopolitical risks caused by Taiwan being the headquarters of TSMC, the largest contract chip manufacturer in the world.
A South Korean presidential official revealed that Zuckerberg and Yoon also discussed expanding cooperation in the fields of artificial intelligence and extended reality during a briefing today.
AI processors have become a top priority for companies working in the AI field. With the fast-paced development of new technologies, the need for more efficient chips has also become a focus for Meta, both for their social media platform and hardware devices.
During his visit, Zuckerberg met with Samsung executives, including executive chairman Jay Y. Lee, to discuss potential collaborations in the areas of AI chips, semiconductors, and extended reality. When TechCrunch reached out to Samsung for a comment on the meeting, a spokesperson declined to comment but did not deny the report.
In response to the intensifying tech war between the US and China, TSMC recently opened its first chip fabrication plant in Japan in an effort to diversify its supply chains away from Taiwan. The plant, owned by Japan Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing (JASM), was established in 2020 and began construction in April 2022. JASM is also planning to start construction on a second chip plant in Japan by the end of 2027.
Zuckerberg also met with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Tuesday to discuss AI and semiconductors. The Japanese government has been working to revitalize its chip making industry, which currently lags about 10 years behind Taiwan and South Korea in terms of next-generation chips.
His tour through Asia coincides with a fierce global AI chip race. Nvidia currently dominates the market, leaving room for other countries with strong processor backgrounds to step up their game. Tech companies building AI businesses are eager to support such initiatives to reduce their dependence on Nvidia. To that end, Meta has been ramping up its efforts to secure AI chips and has been working on its own in-house chip, Artemis, for its data centers. Other big tech companies, such as Microsoft, OpenAI, Amazon, and Google, are also vying for AI chips to fuel their AI aspirations.
Meta’s Focus on Extended Reality (XR): Meeting with LG
Zuckerberg’s meetings in Asia continue with his recent meeting with LG Electronics CEO William Cho in Seoul. LG Electronics stated that during their two-hour-long meeting, they discussed potential strategic collaborations in the development of extended reality (XR) devices.
When asked about specific plans between the two companies, an LG Electronics spokesperson stated that they have been working closely with Meta even before the meeting and are expecting more opportunities in the future. They did not provide details on financial terms or specific products involved in the collaboration.
The spokesperson added that during the meeting, Cho expressed interest in Meta’s advanced technology, particularly focusing on their large language models and potential for on-device AI integration. Cho also experienced Meta’s recently launched Quest 3 headset and Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses.
After shutting down their global mobile business in April 2021, LG shifted its focus to other growth areas such as smart homes, connected devices, Internet of Things (IoT), electric vehicle (EV) components, robotics, and of course, artificial intelligence platforms.
In late November, LG announced the establishment of an extended reality (XR) team within their home entertainment division in order to speed up the development of an XR device, with a target goal of 2025.
“We’re excited to see the leader in consumer electronics sharing our commitment to building the next generation of XR devices,” a spokesperson from Meta stated. “Meta’s vision for a more open ecosystem depends on collaboration among the industry’s most innovative companies, and we look forward to our work with LG resulting in more ways for people around the world to benefit from the computing platforms of the future.”
