Nvidia Expands AI Alliance to Electronic Components with Korean Firms

LG Innotek's large-area FC-BGA for AI semiconductors. (Photo courtesy of LG Innotek) Nvidia is sending ‘love calls’ to Samsung Electro-Mechanics and LG Innotek, following Korean semiconductor companies such as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix. The artificial intelligence (AI) alliance front led by Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jensen Huang appears to be expanding from memory semiconductors to electrical and electronic components. Samsung Electro-Mechanics has agreed to provide a long-term supply of AI semiconductor package substrates to Nvidia, and to this end, it is establishing new dedicated production lines for Nvidia at its Sejong and Busan plants. LG Innotek has also begun developing the latest sensing solutions for physical AI and robots in collaboration with Nvidia. As CEO Jensen Huang announced large-scale investment plans in Europe around ‘GTC Berlin 2026,’ the close relationship between Nvidia and Korean companies is expected to accelerate further. According to the industry on Oct. 22, CEO Huang disclosed the signing of partnerships with major groups, including Samsung Electro-Mechanics, to facilitate the smooth supply of AI chips at the annual developer event GTC conference held in Berlin, Germany. Samsung Electro-Mechanics, one of the six companies specifically chosen by CEO Huang, will take on the role of supplying AI substrates to Nvidia on a long-term basis. While Samsung Electro-Mechanics has been known to supply advanced flip-chip ball grid arrays (FC-BGA) for Nvidia’s Groq 3 language processing units (LPU), this is the first time it has been officially announced to the outside world. Starting this year, Samsung Electro-Mechanics will supply substrates for Nvidia’s computing chipsets as well as package substrates for networks (switches) that handle ultra-high-speed connections between chips in data centers. Package substrates are core components that connect semiconductor chips to mainboards to transmit electrical signals. Package substrates for high-performance semiconductors must support large-capacity data processing and high-speed signal transmission, thus requiring a high level of technological capability, such as the implementation of high integration and fine circuits. To control the massive power noise generated during the ultra-high-speed computing process and to maximize power efficiency, the highest level of process technology is applied, such as the process of directly embedding passive components like multi-layer ceramic capacitors (MLCC) and silicon capacitors inside the substrate. In particular, Samsung Electro-Mechanics has decided to newly establish dedicated production lines at its Sejong and Busan plants, which are key domestic manufacturing hubs, to supply semiconductor package substrates to Nvidia in a timely manner. Starting this year, the volume supplied to Nvidia from Samsung Electro-Mechanics’ package substrate business division over multiple years is expected to grow at an annual average of double digits or more. IM Securities noted in a report titled ‘The Official Substrate Partner Acknowledged by Nvidia’ on this day that Nvidia is supporting Samsung Electro-Mechanics’ capacity expansion, assessing, “This can be interpreted to mean that they are confident in the demand visibility up to 2028 and seriously recognize the possibility of supply shortages.” In the industry, there are forecasts that by 2028, Nvidia will account for a significant portion of Samsung Electro-Mechanics’ total annual package substrate production capacity. At GTC Berlin, an event led by Nvidia, LG Innotek unveiled a lineup of sensing solutions applying Nvidia’s latest HSB (Holoscan Sensor Bridge) technology, including a 3-megapixel (MP) camera module and a Multi-modal Vision System (MVS). This showcased its sensing technological prowess at GTC Berlin by applying HSB, Nvidia’s unique technology that transmits sensor data, such as from cameras, in real-time to the graphics processing unit (GPU) memory of an AI computer. This is also an achievement made after LG and Nvidia formed an alliance in the development of next-generation robots. LG is proceeding with cooperation with Nvidia based on One LG, which consolidates core capabilities at the group level. Previously, LG Electronics’ 2.5-megawatt (MW) class CDU product was approved as an ‘NVIDIA DSX Ready CDU’ product, and LG Energy Solution also joined ‘DSX Ready’ as a battery energy storage system (BESS) company. LG Innotek’s sensing solution development also appears to be progressing smoothly. As one of the collaborations LG has decided to pursue with Nvidia, LG Innotek is pushing forward with the development of core components that serve as the eyes of robots based on high-performance sensing modules and optical technology. An official from LG Innotek said, “We will be able to expand opportunities to supply cameras and sensing solutions applied with Nvidia’s technology.” The two companies plan to expand collaboration in the field of physical AI sensing solutions based on HSB technology, such as vision sensing for humanoid robots and robot hands. They intend to continue close cooperation by developing sensing solutions that can be connected to Nvidia’s next-generation platform and unveiling them through the world’s largest Consumer Electronics Show (CES) or GTC next year. Regarding the successive collaborations with Nvidia, an industry official stated, “It means that the technological prowess of the domestic electronic components industry is being recognized in the global market,” and added, “Collaboration with Nvidia is expected to be further strengthened.”