Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong held a meeting with Tesla CEO Elon Musk during his recent business trip to the United States, focusing on potential collaboration in the realm of self-driving semiconductors. The meeting took place on the final day of Lee's trip, and Samsung Electronics announced the encounter on May 14th.
According to Samsung Electronics, the meeting between Chairman Lee and CEO Musk occurred at Samsung Electronics' North America Semiconductor Research Center in Silicon Valley. While the meeting was arranged at the request of Chairman Lee, the venue was selected by Tesla, designating it as Samsung Electronics Semiconductor Research Center "Device Solutions Americas (DSA)."
Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, is renowned for his leadership in several high-tech industries. Tesla is globally recognized as the largest electric car company and is actively involved in various ventures, including "Starlink" for next-generation satellite communication, "SpaceX" for space exploration, "Hyperloop" for next-generation mobility, and "Neuralink" and "OpenAI" in the fields of artificial intelligence and innovation.
This meeting is expected to contribute to the solidification of a technology alliance between Samsung and Tesla. As a significant customer of Samsung Electronics' semiconductor foundry business, Tesla has been relying on Samsung for the supply of Fully Autonomous Driving (FSD) semiconductors since 2019. Samsung's memory semiconductors are widely used in Tesla electric vehicles.
In recent times, Samsung and Tesla have been actively engaging in collaborations to develop next-generation IT technologies, with a particular focus on jointly developing fully autonomous driving semiconductors. Leveraging its experience in manufacturing Tesla's FSD semiconductors, Samsung Electronics has been expanding its influence in the electric semiconductor market. The company has also secured an order for high-performance semiconductor production from Mobileye, a prominent self-driving camera and software development firm.
The meeting between Chairman Lee and CEO Musk is anticipated to expand Samsung's presence in the system semiconductor business. The industry speculates that in-depth discussions regarding the mass production of next-generation self-driving semiconductors took place, with the involvement of heads from the semiconductor and display sectors.
Another area of potential collaboration worth noting is the display field. Since 2016, Tesla has been sourcing display devices from LG Display, while Samsung Display has been a supplier of OLED screens to Ferrari, BMW, and Hyundai Motors, cementing its position in the automotive display market.
Meanwhile, on the 20th of last month, Chairman Lee departed for the United States on the occasion of President Yoon Seok-yeol's visit to the United States, and returned home on the 12th after a 22-day business trip, the longest in history.
