Samsung Electronics, Naver to jointly develop AI chip for hyperscale computing

The two companies signed a memorandum of understanding on Friday at the Naver office building in Seongnam, Gyeonggi, and set up a task force to develop a semiconductor optimized for large-scale data processing.

Han Jin-man, left, executive vice president of memory global sales and marketing at Samsung Electronics, and Chung Suk-geun, head of Naver's Clova division, pose for a photo during a signing ceremony held Friday in Seongnam, Gyeonggi. [NAVER]

Samsung Electronics and Naver will jointly develop an artificial intelligence (AI) chip for hyperscale computing, the companies said Tuesday.

The two companies signed a memorandum of understanding on Friday at the Naver office building in Seongnam, Gyeonggi, and set up a task force to develop a semiconductor optimized for large-scale data processing.

The goal is to improve the efficiency of data processing and energy consumption in the computing system, in line with the increase in data volume.

Samsung Electronics will supply hardware for the project. The electronics maker developed technologies to integrate data processing functions in memory devices, such as computational storage, processing-in-memory and processing-near-memory, as well as Compute Express Link (CXL). CXL interconnect enables high-speed communication with lower latency by maintaining the memory coherency of data stored in different locations.

Naver will provide compression algorithms 2 to 3 times faster than that of existing models, which the company used to refine its NaverClova, a hyperscale language model with more than 200 billion parameters.

The companies will develop and test compression algorithms for the application and expansion of hyperscale computing models, and plan to work together for next-generation high-performance computing devices as well.

“Combining our knowledge and know-how acquired from running the HyperClova service with Samsung’s semiconductor manufacturing capability, we believe we can create an entirely new class of solutions that can better tackle the challenges of today’s AI technologies,” said Chung Suk-geun, head of Naver’s Clova division.

“Through our collaboration with Naver, we will develop cutting-edge semiconductor solutions to solve the memory bottleneck in large-scale AI systems,” said Han Jin-man, executive vice president of memory global sales and marketing at Samsung Electronics.

BY SHIN HA-NEE [shin.hanee@joongang.co.kr]