After Tesla, Elon Musk May Ask Samsung to Make AI Chips for xAI

Samsung’s foundry division appears to be riding a wave of momentum. A few weeks ago, the company secured a $16.5 billion deal with Tesla to manufacture its next-generation AI6 chips. The Korean giant may now be in line for another massive order from an Elon Musk-led company. The Korean media reports that Samsung may manufacture custom AI chips for Musk’s privately held AI company, xAI.

Samsung is in line to produce Elon Musk-led xAI’s first custom AI chip

According to a report from South Korea’s BusinessPost (via Wccftech), Samsung is in contention as a manufacturing partner for xAI’s first custom-built AI chip. The rumor aligns with xAI’s recent job posting for a custom silicon developer, which suggests the company is serious about developing in-house processors optimized for AI workloads.

While still speculative, the potential partnership builds on Musk’s growing reliance on Samsung Foundry. When announcing the Tesla deal, he noted that $16.5 billion was only an initial estimate, with actual demand likely to push the figure even higher. If xAI’s project materializes under Samsung, it could add billions more in orders. The Korean firm also recently secured a deal to manufacture DeepX’s next-gen DX-M2 AI chip on its 2nm process.

In addition, Samsung has landed orders for Apple’s advanced image sensors, another sign that it is gaining traction with external customers beyond its own Galaxy products. All of these deals should help further cement the company’s resurgence in the foundry space. It has been working aggressively to revive its foundry business, and the efforts are seemingly paying off.

Of course, this remains a rumor for now, so expectations should be tempered. But given Musk’s public endorsement of Samsung and his plans to develop custom silicon, the chances of another billion-dollar deal seem higher than ever. Stay tuned for more updates as the story unfolds.