CEO Su plans to hire hundreds of AI research personnel in Korea and promote the construction of an "open AI ecosystem" with domestic companies. Assessing that demand for AI hardware in Korea is strong, she expressed her intention to also expand medium- to long-term supply chain cooperation with Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.
On the 7th, after meeting with Ryu Je-myeong, Second Vice Minister of the Ministry of Science and ICT, at the Four Seasons Hotel in Jongno-gu, Seoul, CEO Su held a roundtable with 13 domestic AI semiconductor and software companies.
Ryu (Vice Minister) emphasized the construction of an open AI ecosystem, stating, "Future AI competition is important not just in terms of the performance of individual technologies, but in how quickly and efficiently different technologies and companies connect to create a single ecosystem." CEO Su responded, "AMD has always taken openness as its principle, ensuring that our products run side by side with all other products," adding, "Openness creates the most innovation."
AMD plans to establish an AI research center called the "Center of Excellence" in Korea and hire hundreds of research personnel over the next several years. The two sides agreed to build heterogeneous AI computing infrastructure linking AMD CPUs (Central Processing Units) and GPUs (Graphics Processing Units) with domestic NPUs (Neural Processing Units), developing it into a global reference model. Domestic companies requested participation in the ROCm (Radeon Open Compute Platform) ecosystem, software optimization, joint research hubs, and support for global expansion.
When Ryu (Vice Minister) proposed cooperation on three major AI mega-projects—semiconductors, physical AI, and AI data centers—CEO Su expressed her intention to participate, calling it "the right direction and an ambitious vision." Lee Do-gyu, Director of the Information and Communications Policy Office at the Ministry of Science and ICT, explained, "The direction AMD is pursuing is the same as the direction our country is pursuing, so this will be a very good opportunity."
CEO Su later provided more specific details about her plans for the Korean market and supply chain at the "AMD Gamer Day" held at Seoul Dragon City. In a Q&A session with reporters, CEO Su said, "I am also hearing many voices in Korea demanding more AI hardware and AI capabilities," noting that there are "very strong demand signals" for Instinct MI455, Helios, and 6th-generation EPYC "Venice."
In particular, she cited Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix as key partners. CEO Su stated, "Samsung is one of the most strategic partners in the memory field," adding, "Demand is very high not only in AI but also in gaming and consumer markets, so it is important to cooperate closely for long-term supply chain planning." She further emphasized, "We must plan with our partners looking 3 to 5 years ahead, not just 1 or 2 years."
Cooperation on next-generation HBM (High Bandwidth Memory) was also mentioned. CEO Su stated, "We have begun shipping MI455 and Helios systems, and both use HBM4," adding, "We are receiving excellent support from Samsung and SK Hynix. HBM cooperation spans multiple generations, not just one." Regarding HBM4, she said, "We are very satisfied and are currently expanding production."
She also left the door open for the possibility of cooperation with Samsung Foundry. CEO Su stated, "Samsung is an excellent partner in many fields," adding, "We continue to seek cooperation opportunities across memory and foundry as a whole." She added, "AMD will invest tens of billions of dollars across the global supply chain."
in TECH
