Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang hints at Samsung's qualification for HBM
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang delivers a keynote address at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nev., Jan. 6. AFP-Yonhap
Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia on Tuesday hinted that Samsung Electronics will soon be able to supply its high bandwidth memory (HBM) chips to the U.S. AI chip giant.
"They are working on it. They're gonna succeed. No question," Huang said in a press event on the sidelines of the ongoing CES 2025 in Las Vegas. "I have confidence that Samsung will succeed with HBM. I have confidence like, tomorrow is Wednesday."
Samsung Electronics has been struggling to have its HBM3E chips pass Nvidia's quality tests, while its local chipmaking rival SK hynix recently began mass-producing industry-leading 12-layer HBM3E chips.
Huang's comments are in line with the Korean tech giant's announcement in late October that it has achieved "meaningful progress" in meeting quality testing requirements for a "major customer," expected to be Nvidia, whose GPUs are essential for AI computing.
Huang also expressed his strong confidence in Samsung Electronics' achievements in memory history, especially in the HBM field.
"I have confidence that Samsung has succeeded," he said. "Remember, Samsung created HBM. Originally, the very first HBM memory that Nvidia has ever used was from Samsung."
Huang emphasized Samsung's potential to overcome current challenges in HBM3E chip development.
"They have to engineer a new design," he said. "But they can do it. They are working very fast. They're very committed to do it."
HBM is integral to the future of computing, powering Nvidia's GPUs, which are essential for AI and other advanced applications. Nvidia relies on both Samsung and SK hynix as HBM suppliers.
"As you know, SK and Samsung are two of the largest suppliers to Nvidia," he said. "I'm very confident that SK hynix and Samsung are excellent companies and excellent memory companies. So I expect them to continue to succeed."
During CES 2025, which opened on Tuesday for a four-day run in Las Vegas, the Nvidia CEO hinted that he has plans to meet SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, who is expected to attend the annual tech show.
"I think I'm going to (meet him). I'm looking forward to it," he said. (Yonhap)