Google, Tesla, AMD, BYD, and others are in talks with Samsung Foundry about shifting advanced chip production away from TSMC, according to sources familiar with the matter.

According to NikkesiAsia (via Jukan), Samsung Foundry is in talks with several global giants for contract production of AI chips.

• Google is weighing whether to have Samsung build its Axion processors, due around 2028, and potentially a portion of its TPUs for AI workloads.
• Tesla’s upcoming AI6 chip will be made by Samsung in Texas.
• AMD is in conversations about future CPUs, also from 2028.
• BYD, China’s electric vehicle titan, is discussing next-generation autonomous driving chips with Samsung.

TSMC has locked up its leading-edge nodes with NVIDIA, Apple, Broadcom, and a roster of others. That’s left smaller-volume customers, particularly Chinese chip designers, scrambling, with several turning to Samsung.

A Chinese auto chip executive reportedly stated that TSMC’s advanced production is full, and Samsung’s availability has made it an increasingly attractive option, even if its yields still trail the Taiwanese chip maker’s.

US clients want production spread across multiple foundries to balance the supply chain and avoid geopolitical concerns. Qualcomm has used both TSMC and Samsung for years; Google is now building out a similar dual-foundry approach.

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Samsung Electronics’ Foundry chief threw cold water on recent optimism about the division’s financial recovery, saying a return to profit is unlikely before 2028.

Han Jin-man, president of Samsung’s foundry business, told employees (via KoreaHerald) at an internal briefing Thursday that turning the division profitable “does not look easy even next year [2027].”

“Turning the foundry business to a profit does not look easy even next year,” said Samsung Foundry chief, and added that “There is a high possibility of achieving profitability in 2028.”

His remarks landed just five days after industry sources told Chosun that the foundry unit could break even as early as the third quarter of 2026.

Han pointed to several structural problems beyond the usual cost complaints: a business mix still too dependent on mobile customers, weak technological competitiveness, orders won at margins too thin to matter, and a legacy process business he now wants to exit as the market turns into a “red ocean.”

A newly established employee bonus system, funded at 10.5% of semiconductor division profits, adds another recurring cost layer that analysts may not have fully accounted for.

The Taylor chip manufacturing factory, central to the turnaround thesis, won’t enter mass production until next year, Han indicated, later than some had assumed.

Related article:

• Samsung confirms late 2026 2nm chip production in Taylor

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