Samsung to invest $310b to power AI expansion

Samsung plans to invest US$310 billion over the next five years, focusing mainly on technology for AI, as global demand for AI infrastructure grows.

The South Korean conglomerate’s investment will fund projects including a new semiconductor plant in Pyeongtaek, which is scheduled to begin operations in 2028.

Samsung Electronics, the group’s flagship and a major memory chip supplier, and affiliates such as Samsung SDS, which will open two AI data centres in South Jeolla and Gumi, are key players in this plan.

The package also covers initiatives outside AI, with Samsung SDI, its EV battery arm, exploring a production line for next-generation batteries in South Korea.

This announcement follows the South Korean government’s pledge to raise AI-related spending and reflects heightened global interest in AI and semiconductor production.

🔗 Source: Agence-France Presse

🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

Samsung’s $310 billion plan lacks clear HBM and foundry split

Samsung will spend $310 billion but left out the split for HBM memory, foundry nodes (manufacturing process technologies), or advanced packaging (techniques that stack or tightly connect chips) 1. This split matters for matching SK hynix in HBM and TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company) in foundry work.
Pyeongtaek P4 is shifting to 1c dynamic random access memory (DRAM) with capacity of 80,000 wafers a month 2. HBM4, the next generation of HBM, may launch on 1c DRAM in the second half of 2025 3.
High volume 1c DRAM starts no earlier than 2026 3. The lag may blunt Samsung’s response to near term AI chip shortages, even with projected demand of 900,000 DRAM wafers a month for OpenAI’s Stargate initiative (a proposed massive AI data center buildout) 4.
New Pyeongtaek Plant 5 begins operations in 2028 1. That pushes out capacity while rivals ramp now.

Data center vendors can target Samsung SDS before December decision

Samsung SDS plans AI data centers in South Jeolla and Gumi 1. Gumi is slated for 2027 to 2028 and likely AI focused due to GPU high performance computing (HPC) demand 5.
Power gear and cooling vendors can line up for contracts, while networking or construction firms do the same 5. Samsung C&T (the group’s construction and engineering unit) likely builds, and Samsung Electronics supplies memory semiconductors 5.
A Samsung SDS led consortium is the only bidder for South Korea’s National AI Computing Center in Haenam, a planned government backed national AI supercomputing hub valued at $1.7 billion 6 7. The plan targets 15,000 GPUs by 2028 and 50,000 by 2030 6 7.
The government plans a final decision in December 6. Vendors have a short window to pitch to Naver Cloud (the cloud arm of Naver), KT (a major telecom operator), or Kakao (an internet platform company) for the 2.5 trillion won project 7.