Samsung’s 2nm process orders surge, straining manpower; Google’s TPU I/O chip backend design is set to be outsourced

ME AI notification, Samsung Electronics is considering outsourcing the I/O chip backend design work for Google’s 10th-generation TPU (codename Icefish). The Google TPU based on a 2-nanometer process is made up of Compute processors and the I/O chips— the former is expected to be manufactured by TSMC using a 1.4-nanometer process, while the latter is produced by Samsung using a 2-nanometer process and is responsible for data transfer between the Compute processor and HBM. Google is co-designing the chip with MediaTek, with mass production targeted as early as 2028. However, Samsung has recently seen a rapid influx of 2-nanometer orders—besides Google and Tesla, it has also won customers Anthropic and DeepX—leading to a shortage of internal available manpower. Previously, Tesla’s 2-nanometer autonomous driving chip backend design was still completed using Samsung’s own personnel.

Potential outsourcing partners currently mentioned include ADTechnology, Gaonchips, and Alphachips. The first two have each invested major projects—ADTechnology is focusing on its 2-nanometer CPU project ADP620, aiming for annual revenue to exceed ten thousand billion won between 2028 and 2029; Gaonchips is preparing to participate in the K-On-Device AI project under the South Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy worth about 800 billion won, collaborating with Hyundai Motor and others to develop a 5-nanometer ADAS chip. Since backend design is, in essence, a low-value-added services contract (typically on the order of several hundred billion won), far less than a full-scope ASIC project from design through tape-out (which can reach several thousand billion to ten thousand billion won), the two companies are not very enthusiastic and only tend to take on limited work to build performance for advanced process projects. By contrast, Alphachips views the Google TPU project as a growth driver and has a stronger willingness to participate.

Industry insiders point out that orders in the 2-nanometer market that TSMC cannot absorb due to capacity bottlenecks are spilling over to Samsung as another deeper reason for Samsung’s manpower crunch. (Source: BlockBeats)