AMD CEO Lisa Su Says Close Cooperation With Korean Chipmakers Is Critical Amid Memory Supply Crunch

AMD Chief Visits South Korea for First Time in Seven Months

Plans AI Research Center in Korea This Year

Signals Long-Term Partnerships With Samsung, SK Hynix

Lisa Su, chief executive officer of AMD, said working closely with Korean partners including Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix is a core priority for the company. She also indicated a willingness to build long-term partnerships with Korean semiconductor makers.

Su spoke to reporters after the "AMD Gamer Day" event at Seoul Dragon City in Yongsan on October 7, saying she returned to Korea because the countrys ecosystem is critically important for both supply and partnerships. With supply chains now highly complex, it is essential to make plans with partners on a three- to five-year horizon. It was Sus first visit to South Korea in seven months.

She likened cooperation in the semiconductor industry to a team sport, saying stronger collaboration with partners helps AMD better meet end-user demand. Su also underscored the need to work with Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix. She said she met with executives from both companies and is continuing to explore opportunities with Samsung across memory and foundry operations. On sixth-generation high-bandwidth memory, or HBM4, supplied to AMD by the two companies, Su said AMD is very satisfied and is urging a ramp-up in volume production.

Earlier on October 7, Su attended a meeting with Korean AI companies hosted by the Ministry of Science and ICT at the Four Seasons Hotel Seoul. The event followed a memorandum of understanding signed by the ministry and AMD in July. Su said AMD will establish an artificial intelligence research center in Korea within the year and hire hundreds of AI researchers. The move is aimed at advancing cutting-edge AI technology while supporting Koreas AI ecosystem.

At the meeting, participants discussed building heterogeneous computing infrastructure that combines AMD central processing units and graphics processing units with Korean neural processing units. They also discussed developing it into a reference model for use in global markets. Another topic was how Korean companies could participate in the ecosystem for ROCm, AMDs open-source AI software platform.

Won Jong-hwan / Lee Young-ae, Korea Economic Daily reporters won0403@hankyung.com