Samsung Electronics has taken a strategic investor role in Anthropic, the U.S. artificial intelligence startup behind the generative AI model “Claude,” signaling an accelerated push into the AI semiconductor ecosystem and raising expectations of future collaboration in advanced chip manufacturing.
Anthropic announced on May 28 (local time) that it had raised a massive $65 billion in a Series H funding round, valuing the company at approximately $965 billion (about 1,440 trillion won). The latest round drew participation from major global memory semiconductor companies, including Samsung Electronics, SK hynix, and Micron, which were described as “strategic infrastructure partners.”
According to Anthropic, these firms form core pillars of the global supply chain for memory, storage, and logic chips, and their involvement is expected to support the stable expansion of AI computing infrastructure worldwide.
Industry observers are paying close attention to Anthropic’s reference to “logic chips” in its announcement, noting that semiconductor foundry production is required for advanced logic semiconductors. Among the participating companies, Samsung Electronics is effectively the only player with a full-scale advanced foundry business, fueling speculation that future AI chip production for Anthropic’s Claude ecosystem could be outsourced to Samsung.
<>Potential Foundry Link Raises Market Expectations
Market analysts say Samsung’s investment could extend beyond financial participation and evolve into a supply-chain partnership, potentially linking its foundry business with Anthropic’s future AI accelerator development.
Anthropic, alongside OpenAI, is considered one of the leading forces in the global generative AI race. As model complexity increases, demand for large-scale AI inference and training chips is expected to grow rapidly, creating opportunities for advanced semiconductor manufacturers.
Samsung already has an expanding footprint in AI-related chip manufacturing. The company has secured production contracts for Tesla’s next-generation AI chips “AI5” and “AI6,” and is also reportedly involved in manufacturing upgraded versions of Tesla’s earlier AI4 chips at its foundry.
In addition, Samsung is expanding its role in producing certain AI inference chips for Nvidia and increasing supply of advanced image sensors, strengthening its position across the broader AI semiconductor value chain.
<>Foundry Turnaround Hopes Build Amid Structural Challenges
Samsung’s foundry division has faced persistent challenges in recent years, including yield issues and heavy capital expenditure, while rival TSMC continues to dominate global market share. Securing large-scale, stable customers has remained a key priority for the business.
However, the rapid expansion of the AI market is creating new momentum. The surge in demand for AI servers and data center infrastructure has increased the importance of advanced process manufacturing capabilities, particularly for high-performance chips.
Samsung is also accelerating development of next-generation high-bandwidth memory products such as HBM4 and HBM4E, aiming to strengthen its competitiveness in the AI memory segment. A combination of stronger AI memory and logic chip production capabilities could support the company’s ambition to position itself as a “full-stack AI semiconductor provider.”
An industry official said the investment carries significance beyond equity participation, describing it as part of Samsung’s broader effort to deepen strategic ties with global AI leaders and secure a central role in the emerging AI infrastructure ecosystem.
The official added that if Samsung succeeds in building a strong customer base in AI chips amid rising demand, its foundry business could see a meaningful turnaround in both growth and profitability.
