Samsung Plans $73 Billion AI Chip Investment in 2026

Samsung Electronics announced plans on Thursday to invest a record 110 trillion won, approximately $73 billion, in 2026 on research, development, and manufacturing facilities, with a primary focus on expanding its capabilities in artificial intelligence semiconductors. The South Korean technology giant's capital expenditure marks a 22 percent increase from the 90.4 trillion won spent in 2025, positioning it ahead of rival Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company's planned outlay for the year.

The investment underscores Samsung's aggressive push to capitalize on surging global demand for AI hardware. A significant portion will target high-bandwidth memory (HBM), a key component for AI processors due to its high data transfer speeds. Samsung is currently mass-producing HBM3E chips for use in graphics processing units and preparing to launch HBM4, which promises enhanced bandwidth and energy efficiency. The company has secured partnerships to supply these technologies, including an expanded agreement with AMD for HBM4 in its Instinct MI455X GPUs and DDR5 memory for EPYC processors. Additionally, Samsung has a multibillion-dollar contract to produce AI chips for Tesla's...