Samsung to make Tesla chips in $16.5B deal
Tesla has signed a deal to get its next-generation chips from Samsung
What happened
Samsung will make semiconductors for Tesla, starting with the electric-vehicle giant's next-generation AI6 chips for its self-driving technology, Tesla CEO Elon Musk confirmed today.
The $16.54 billion contract will last through 2033 and is worth 7.6% of Samsung's 2024 revenue, making it the "biggest deal that Samsung's chip business has won from a single customer," according to the Financial Times.
Who said what
"The strategic importance of this is hard to overstate," Musk said on X. It's certainly a "major win" for Samsung, as it "struggles to catch up" with rival Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing to ink chipmaking contracts with tech giants, said The Wall Street Journal.
The Tesla deal "may also help them to attract other customers," Vey-Sern Ling, the managing director at Union Bancaire Privee in Singapore, said to Bloomberg.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
What next?
Samsung shares rose over 6% on the news. The Texas plant where Samsung is expected to produce the chips isn't slated to open until 2026. Analysts forecast chip production to begin by 2028.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Jessica Hullinger is a writer and former deputy editor of The Week Digital. Originally from the American Midwest, she completed a degree in journalism at Indiana University Bloomington before relocating to New York City, where she pursued a career in media. After joining The Week as an intern in 2010, she served as the title’s audience development manager, senior editor and deputy editor, as well as a regular guest on “The Week Unwrapped” podcast. Her writing has featured in other publications including Popular Science, Fast Company, Fortune, and Self magazine, and she loves covering science and climate-related issues.
-
Revisionism and division: Franco’s legacy five decades onIn The Spotlight Events to mark 50 years since Franco’s death designed to break young people’s growing fascination with the Spanish dictator
-
Did Cop30 fulfil its promise to Indigenous Brazilians?Today’s Big Question Brazilian president approves 10 new protected territories, following ‘unprecedented’ Indigenous presence at conference, both as delegates and protesters
-
The best Christmas theatre shows across the UKThe Week Recommends Tip-top festive ballets, plays and comedies to book up now
-
US mints final penny after 232-year runSpeed Read Production of the one-cent coin has ended
-
How could worsening consumer sentiment affect the economy?Today’s Big Question Sentiment dropped this month to a near-record low
-
Musk wins $1 trillion Tesla pay packageSpeed Read The package would expand his stake in the company to 25%
-
How Tesla can make Elon Musk the world’s first trillionaireIn The Spotlight The package agreed by the Tesla board outlines several key milestones over a 10-year period
-
Starbucks workers are planning their ‘biggest strike’ everThe Explainer The union said 92% of its members voted to strike
-
Warner Bros. explores sale amid Paramount bidsSpeed Read The media giant, home to HBO and DC Studios, has received interest from multiple buying parties
-
Gold tops $4K per ounce, signaling financial uneaseSpeed Read Investors are worried about President Donald Trump’s trade war
-
Electronic Arts to go private in record $55B dealspeed read The video game giant is behind ‘The Sims’ and ‘Madden NFL’
