Meta’s Zuckerberg persuades Asian tech giants to double down on AI chip development

Image credits: Getty Images

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who is touring Asian countries this week, spoke Thursday with South Korean President Yoon Seok-yeol, saying Meta will offset geopolitical risk issues in Taiwan, where TSMC is located. Therefore, he said that he would like to strengthen cooperation with Samsung Electronics regarding AI chips. is the world’s largest contract chip manufacturing company and is headquartered in

Mr. Zuckerberg and Mr. Yoon also discussed ways to expand cooperation in the artificial intelligence and augmented reality industries, a South Korean presidential official said in a briefing (in Korean) today.

AI processors (manufacturing and sourcing, and the development of cutting-edge technologies that are more efficient than the current generation of chips) have become a major priority and focus for companies working in the AI ​​space as well. Looking to the future of Meta’s social media and hardware device business.

Mr. Zuckerberg reportedly met with Samsung executives, including Samsung Executive Chairman Jay Y. Lee, on Wednesday night to discuss potential cooperation around AI chips, semiconductors and augmented reality. . When contacted by TechCrunch for a response to the report, a Samsung spokesperson declined to comment on Zuckerberg’s meeting with Samsung, but also did not dispute it.

As the US-China tech war intensifies, TSMC opens its first chip manufacturing factory in Japan to diversify its supply chain away from Taiwan. Japan Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing (JASM), a subsidiary of TSMC, which was established by the Japanese government and companies in 2020, began the construction process for the factory in April 2022. JASM plans to establish a second chip factory in Japan, with construction to begin in 2020. End of 2024.

The Meta founder also met with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Tuesday to discuss AI and semiconductors. Japan is aiming to revitalize its chip manufacturing industry, but is about 10 years behind Taiwan and South Korea when it comes to next-generation chips.

Zuckerberg’s tour now coincides with the massive global AI chip race. Nvidia continues to dominate the global market for its AI chips, leaving huge opportunities for countries that have traditionally been strong in processors and those that have reignited their innovation instincts. This is something that tech companies building AI businesses want to support to reduce their dependence on Nvidia. To this end, the social media giant is ramping up efforts to secure AI chips and is working on developing its own in-house AI chip, Artemis, for data centers. Big tech companies like Microsoft, OpenAI, Amazon, and Google are similarly competing for AI chips to support their AI ambitions.

Meta’s XR ambitions: Talks with LG

Today’s meeting is the latest in a series of visits that Meta CEO is making in the region. Just yesterday, Zuckerberg met with LG Electronics CEO William Cho in Seoul during a tour of Asia. LG Electronics announced that it held a two-hour meeting with Mr. Zuckerberg to discuss the possibility of strategic cooperation between the two companies in the development of augmented reality (XR) devices.

When asked by TechCrunch if the talks included any concrete plans between the two parties, an LG Electronics spokesperson said LG Electronics and Meta had been “working closely together since before yesterday’s top management meeting.” Both companies look forward to many more opportunities in the future. . Details regarding financial terms and what specific products will be included in the collaboration are unknown.

An LG spokesperson also quoted the company’s CEO Cho, who spoke to local reporters after the meeting, saying, “Top management of both companies discussed the strategic direction and schedule of the partnership.” Ta.

For LG’s part, the South Korean tech giant will bring Meta’s augmented reality (XR) platform to LG’s content and consumer devices (such as TVs), adding a “unique We want to build an ecosystem. LG said in a statement.

LG, like other technology companies around the world today, is currently sounding the alarm on AI. However, in reality, neither as a chip maker, nor as an AI-centered product developer, nor as a service, has it caused much of a stir in the AI ​​race. Meta provides an opportunity for LG to partner with a more advanced company, but this company is not a direct competitor to LG in terms of its larger consumer electronics business and is also in the AI ​​space. It offsets the advantages of some other large companies. Spaces like Google and OpenAI.

Case in point: While experiencing Meta’s recently launched Quest 3 headset, Cho said he was “strong about demonstrating Meta’s advanced technology, with a particular focus on Meta’s large-scale language model and the potential for on-device AI integration.” The company specifically noted that and Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, the company said.

After LG shut down its struggling mobile business around the world in April 2021, the South Korean electronics and consumer electronics giant shifted its business focus to smart homes, connected devices, the Internet of Things (IoT), and electric vehicles (EVs). components, robotics and, of course, artificial intelligence platforms.

In late November, LG announced that it had created a new augmented reality (XR) team in its home entertainment division as part of an organizational reorganization to accelerate the development of XR devices aimed at 2025.

“We are pleased to have a longtime leader in the consumer electronics industry share our commitment to building the next generation of XR devices,” said a Meta spokesperson. “Meta’s vision for a more open ecosystem relies on collaboration between the industry’s most innovative companies, and by working with LG, people around the world will have more access to future computing platforms. I look forward to benefiting from it.”