NVIDIA Eyes Intel as Potential Third Foundry Partner, Continuing Ties with TSMC, Samsung

Colette Kress, NVIDIA's Chief Financial Officer, has once again hinted at a possible relationship with Intel Foundry Services for next-generation chip fabrication.

NVIDIA Calls TSMC a Great Partner, Samsung is Still in Use, and Intel Could Be a ‘Third’ Foundry Partner

NVIDIA's CFO was questioned at the recent UBS Global Technology Conference if they would consider using Intel as a Foundry partner for the fabrication of their next-generation chips. Based on their statement, the CFO made very positive remarks.

The majority of NVIDIA's Data Center GPUs for AI/HPC and Gaming chips are now manufactured by TSMC, although just one generation ago, Samsung was the manufacturer of NVIDIA's Gaming GPUs. Ampere, NVIDIA's GPU family that powers the GeForce RTX 30 "Gaming" graphics cards, was developed at the Samsung Fabs.

However, as we've previously documented, Samsung is intending to play a much more important role in "nourishing" NVIDIA's data center revenue in the coming years now that the company has established itself as a close partner to Team Green.

It is predicted that TSMC will maintain its important cooperation with NVIDIA for the production of Hopper H200 and Blackwell B100 GPUs, allowing it to maintain its AI market share momentum, while Samsung will be available in the event that further orders are required. NVIDIA also aspires to have a diverse ecosystem of foundry partners and is willing to work with a third (referring to Intel).

“I think there are a lot of great foundry partners. TSMC has been a great one. As you know, we also use Samsung today. Would we love a third one? Sure. We would love a third one. And that takes a work of what are they interested in terms of the services. Keep in mind, there is other ones that may come to the U.S. TSMC in the U.S. may be an option for us as well. Not necessarily different, but again in terms of the different region. Nothing that stops us from potentially adding another foundry,” Colette Kress said at UBS Global Technology Conference, per WCCFTECH.

Samsung Foundry has framed its products in such a way that Team Green has been driven to boost its order placement volumes to the firm, given that the Korean giant has not only perfected its processes but has also partnered with Team Green for the past two years to become a trusted supplier.

Samsung has an advantage over other foundry competitors because of its extensive line of equipment that can cater to semiconductor, memory, and packaging stages, which not only provides NVIDIA with a "hybrid partner," but Samsung could potentially give itself an advantage if the company offers competitive pricing and delivery times.

Intel has been suggested as a foundry partner by industry sources. NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang has also hinted at adopting Intel's Foundries for future chips. A contract with NVIDIA would undoubtedly be significant for Intel as the company seeks more IFS partners in the future.

Having US-based Foundry partners will also benefit NVIDIA and other chip giants like AMD and Intel, which rely on TSMC for the fabrication of certain IPs in processors. However, NVIDIA CEO feels that the US is still decades away from achieving supply chain independence and that bringing TSMC and other big fabs to the US will be the first significant step toward that goal.

Nvidia Reportedly Eyes Vietnam For Future Chip Production As Chipmakers Seek Alternatives To China

Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, will meet with the Vietnamese government and firms in Hanoi on Monday to discuss future semiconductor collaboration, according to Reuters. Nvidia's move could be an attempt to diversify its supply chain and minimize its dependency on existing suppliers.

The discussions will look into possible collaborations and technology sharing between Nvidia and its partners. According to Reuters, an invitation letter to the event mentions measures 'to develop the semiconductor industry' in Vietnam as well as “Nvidia's possible partnership with Vietnamese IT enterprises.”

Vietnam isn't known for chip production, but when it comes to semiconductors, the first name that springs to mind is Intel, which has a large test and assembly factory near Ho Shin Minh City. Despite the fact that this plant is critical to Intel's global supply chain, the corporation abandoned plans to invest further in it.

Meanwhile, geopolitical pressures allow Vietnam to move beyond chip assembly and into chip manufacture. One of the key questions is whether Nvidia will agree to share technology with at least one Vietnamese startup.

According to an industry insider who requested anonymity, such a deal is expected to take place at the gathering. This might be a significant step in transferring critical technology to Vietnam and assisting it in becoming more influential in the global semiconductor market.

Major Vietnamese corporations such as FPT, Vingroup, and Viettel have confirmed their attendance, albeit they have not disclosed any specific transactions they may be negotiating. According to the article, the Vietnamese investment ministry, which is arranging the event, has also made no comments.

Due to geopolitical threats and the United States' crackdown on China's artificial intelligence (AI), high-performance computing (HPC), and semiconductor sectors, many corporations are working hard to lessen their reliance on China-based and sometimes Taiwan-based production facilities.

Nvidia has already transferred its AI and HPC hardware assembly out of China, but its chips are still manufactured and built in Taiwan. It is clear that the business is looking into methods to diversify its supply chain even further, but how Nvidia would employ Vietnam remains to be seen.

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