AMD's Lisa Su Courts Korean AI Chipmakers to Challenge Nvidia
AMD CEO Lisa Su meets Korean AI firms to pair AMD processors with local NPUs, aiming to challenge Nvidia's dominance in the global AI market.
In a strategic move to dismantle Nvidia's dominance in the artificial intelligence sector, AMD Chair and CEO Lisa Su has turned her attention toward South Korea. During a high-profile visit to Seoul on Wednesday, Su placed Korean AI chipmakers at the heart of her partnership discussions, exploring ways to integrate local technology with AMD's existing hardware to create powerful computing systems for the global market.
Building a New AI Ecosystem
Meeting with South Korea's Second Vice Science Minister Ryu Je-myung and executives from 13 prominent Korean AI companies, Su focused on a specific technical synergy: pairing AMD’s CPUs and GPUs with Korean-designed Neural Processing Units (NPUs) specifically built for AI inference.
The goal is to move beyond individual components and toward complete computing systems. By running demonstration projects within Korea, AMD and its local partners aim to create a functional blueprint that can eventually be deployed to customers worldwide. This strategy seeks to provide Korean chipmakers with a direct pipeline to global markets while significantly expanding AMD's footprint in the AI inference space.
“I am a big believer in an open ecosystem,” Su stated, emphasizing that South Korea is a vital partner in the global advancement and deployment of AI technologies.
Targeting Nvidia's Software Stronghold
The competition in AI is not just about hardware; it is a battle of software ecosystems. During the discussions, participants explored ways to integrate into AMD’s open-source ROCm software ecosystem. This is a direct challenge to Nvidia’s widely dominant CUDA platform, which has long been the industry standard for developers.
The roundtable brought together a diverse group of innovators working across the AI spectrum, including:
- FuriosaAI
- HyperAccel
- DeepX
- Mobilint
- MangoBoost
- Panmnesia
- Dnotitia
- Moreh
- Nota AI
- Lablup
- Fadu
- Elice Group
- Upstage
Expanding the Korean Footprint
This visit marks Su's return to Korea just seven months after her previous trip, signaling a massive commitment to the region. AMD has reaffirmed its plans to establish an AI Center for Excellence in South Korea by the end of this year. The company intends to hire hundreds of researchers and will provide the necessary hardware funding for the center, though its exact location is still being finalized.
Beyond research, AMD is doubling down on local infrastructure and education:
- Startup Support: AMD is investing in local computing capacity for startups, highlighted by its cloud infrastructure project with MangoBoost.
- Academic Partnerships: Following an agreement with Seoul National University’s AI Institute, AMD plans to expand its ties with Korean universities and support graduate-level AI training.
Strengthening the Samsung Connection
The strategic importance of South Korea is further underscored by AMD's relationship with Samsung Electronics. Su's visit follows previous high-level meetings with Samsung leadership, including Chairman Lee Jae-yong.
The partnership has already yielded significant results, with AMD naming Samsung as a preferred supplier of HBM4 memory for its MI455X AI accelerator. Furthermore, the two giants are exploring possibilities for Samsung to manufacture future generations of AMD chips, solidifying a supply chain that could prove decisive in the race against Nvidia.