Samsung's Lee Jae-yong meets Tesla's Elon Musk to talk tech

Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong and Tesla CEO Elon Musk met at the headquarters of Samsung Electronics Device Solutions America in Silicon Valley last week to discuss cooperation on advanced technologies. Samsung disclosed...

Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong, third from left, poses with Tesla CEO Elon Musk, fourth from left, and other executives at the headquarters of Samsung Electronics Device Solutions America (DSA) in Silicon Valley on Wednesday. Also pictured, from left, are Tesla’s Vice President of Global Supply Management Karn Budhiraj, Tesla’s Chief Technology Officer Andrew Baglino, Lee, Musk, Samsung Electronics Device Solutions Division CEO Kyung Kye-hyun, Samsung Electronics’ Foundry Business President Choi Si-young and Samsung Electronics DSA Vice President Han Jin-man. [SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS]

Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong and Tesla CEO Elon Musk met at the headquarters of Samsung Electronics Device Solutions America in Silicon Valley last week to discuss cooperation on advanced technologies.

Samsung disclosed information regarding the meeting on Sunday.

It marks the first time Lee met with Musk, who leads not only Tesla but also an array of companies at the forefront of cutting-edge technology, such as Neuralink and SpaceX. The meeting was part of a 22-day trip Lee took to the United States.

It signals that Samsung Electronics' semiconductor business may grow even larger as Telsa strives to develop its self-driving technology further.

Samsung Electronics has been growing its influence in the automotive chip market, getting orders from Nvidia and Mobileye based on its experience creating Tesla's self-driving chips. Samsung manufactures and supplies Tesla's third-generation full self-driving chip, or FSD chip, which is Tesla's homegrown autonomous driving chip.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company also fabricates Tesla's FSD chips.

Samsung Display CEO Choi Joo-sun also attended the meeting, a hint that Samsung Display may work with Tesla.

According to reports, LG Display has been supplying Tesla with its products since 2016.

Samsung Display also supplies automotive displays for Ferrari, BMW and Hyundai Motor.

"The company is expanding its entry to the semiconductor market with electronic devices," Samsung Display said in its report in March. "We will strengthen leadership in Samsung Foundry's processing technologies and continue to secure new clients in the field of automotive driving."

The global semiconductor market of electronic devices will grow 75 percent to $700 billion in 2028 from 2024's $400 billion, according to data from two research institutes — Strategy Analytics and Research and Markets.

Lee's interest is not limited to chips.

"We need to invest in technologies that are not of today," Lee said in his speech as he was named Samsung Electronics' new executive chairman last October.

During his trip, Lee also had a round of meetings with global leaders in artificial intelligence, biopharmaceuticals and mobility sectors to find new growth engines beyond chips.

AI is an industry that Lee has shown particular interest in. It was reported that Lee met with Ndivia's Jensen Huang at a sushi restaurant in Silicon Valley and with experts to set in motion the development of chips to meet the global demands of generative AI services kickstarted by ChatGPT.

Other corporate chiefs that Lee met during his trip included Johnson & Johnson CEO Joaquin Duato, Bristol Myers Squibb CEO Giovanni Caforio, Flagship Pioneering CEO Noubar Afeyan and Biogen CEO Christopher Viehbacher.

The trip marked Lee's longest since 2014.

BY LEE JAE-LIM [lee.jaelim@joongang.co.kr]