NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang reportedly doesn’t trust Samsung HBM memory and engineers, stating that his company can’t trust Samsung HBM products or do business with Samsung Electronics with regard to HBM memory. NVIDIA is one of the world’s leading companies, as is Samsung. Both for very different reasons. NVIDIA rose to fame thanks to its groundbreaking advancements in GPUs that targeted gaming PCs. More recently, NVIDIA has been making huge strides in AI computing by providing chips for other companies.
Samsung on the other hand, is well-known for a variety of products including TVs, storage, monitors, and audio, but mostly its mobile phones. It also makes memory for a wide array of different uses. Samsung HBM is one of those memory product lines. And it seems Huang doesn’t trust these products. Perhaps mainly because of the way Samsung executives are swapped out so often.
NVIDIA CEO says Samsung HBM memory can’t be trusted because senior executives change frequently
According to a report from Korean outlet Hankyung (via TweakTown), NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang has stated in the past that “NVIDIA is a customer of Samsung Electronics, not an employee. Stop calling and asking questions. I can’t trust Samsung Electronics’ high-bandwidth memory (HBM) products and engineers. We cannot trust and do business with them because senior executives change frequently.” This was reportedly said in front of Samsung executives.
What’s interesting is that this is in contrast to a very different stance Huang seemed to have about Samsung HBM just earlier this month. During CES, Huang said that “there is no doubt about the success of Samsung Electronics’ HBM.” Hankyung also states that Huang approved of Samsung HBM products in March of 2024 when Samsung debuted its HMB3E 12-speed product. With HBM3E approved for NVIDIA’s AI chips.
NVIDIA may stick with SK Hynix and Micron for its new AI chips
However Huang feels about Samsung HBM, there’s a possibility that NVIDIA could still go with Samsung’s HBM3E for its AI chips. If Samsung is able to deliver. However, NVIDIA may choose to stick with SK Hynix and Micron. NVIDIA has reportedly advised Samsung that it needs to develop a completely new chip design for use within its AI chips. Specifically, its less powerful AI chips that can be marketed to the Chinese market.
According to Bloomberg, Samsung has now gained NVIDIA’s approval with its latest design. So it seems NVIDIA’s distrust for Samsung HBM may have been short-lived.
