Samsung debuted its Mach-1 generation of AI processors during a recent shareholder meeting—the South Korean megacorp anticipates an early 2025 launch window. Their application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) design is expected to "excel in edge computing applications," with a focus on low power and efficiency-oriented operating environments. Naver Corporation was a key NVIDIA high-end AI customer in South Korea (and Japan), but the leading search platform firm and creator of HyperCLOVA X LLM (reportedly) deliberated on an adoption alternative hardware last October. The Korea Economic Daily believes that Naver's relationship with Samsung is set to grow, courtesy of a proposed $752 million investment: "the world's top memory chipmaker, will supply its next-generation Mach-1 artificial intelligence chips to Naver Corp. by the end of this year."

Reports from last December indicated that the two companies were deep into the process of co-designing power-efficient AI accelerators—Naver's main goal is to finalize a product that will offer eight times more energy efficiency than NVIDIA's H100 AI accelerator. Naver's alleged bulk order—of roughly 150,000 to 200,000 Samsung Mach-1 AI chips—appears to be a stopgap. Industry insiders reckon that Samsung's first-gen AI accelerator is much cheaper when compared to NVIDIA H100 GPU price points—a per-unit figure of $3756 is mentioned in the KED Global article. Samsung is speculated to be shopping its fledgling AI tech to Microsoft and Meta.

EMTEK products rarely pop up on TPU's news section, but the GPU database contains a smattering of the South Korean manufacturer's Ampere-based GeForce RTX graphics card. VideoCardz has discovered an updated MIRACLE X3 White model—EMTEK's latest release is a GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER 12 GB card. The triple-fan model seems to stick with NVIDIA's reference specifications—VideoCardz also noticed a physical similarity: "under the cooler shroud, the card boasts a non-standard U-shaped PCB, reminiscent of Team Green's Founders Edition. However, it remains uncertain whether EMTEK utilizes the same PCB as NVIDIA." The asking price—of ₩919,990—converts to around $680, when factoring in regional taxes. EMTEK's MIRACLE X3 cooling solution seems to be fairly robust—featuring four 6 mm heat pipes—so an adherence to stock clocks is a slight surprise. The company's GAMING PRO line includes a couple of factory overclocked options.

During its 55th annual shareholders' meeting, Samsung Electronics announced its entry into the AI processor market with the upcoming launch of its Mach-1 AI accelerator chips in early 2025. The South Korean tech giant revealed its plans to compete with established players like NVIDIA in the rapidly growing AI hardware sector. The Mach-1 generation of chips is an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) design equipped with LPDDR memory that is envisioned to excel in edge computing applications. While Samsung does not aim to directly rival NVIDIA's ultra-high-end AI solutions like the H100, B100, or B200, the company's strategy focuses on carving out a niche in the market by offering unique features and performance enhancements at the edge, where low power and efficient computing is what matters the most.

According to SeDaily, the Mach-1 chips boast a groundbreaking feature that significantly reduces memory bandwidth requirements for inference to approximately 0.125x compared to existing designs, which is an 87.5% reduction. This innovation could give Samsung a competitive edge in terms of efficiency and cost-effectiveness. As the demand for AI-powered devices and services continues to soar, Samsung's foray into the AI chip market is expected to intensify competition and drive innovation in the industry. While NVIDIA currently holds a dominant position, Samsung's cutting-edge technology and access to advanced semiconductor manufacturing nodes could make it a formidable contender. The Mach-1 has been field-verified on an FPGA, while the final design is currently going through a physical design for SoC, which includes placement, routing, and other layout optimizations.

South Korean tech insiders believe that SK Hynix has sent "12-layer DRAM stacked HBM3E (5th generation HBM)" prototype samples to NVIDIA—according a ZDNET.co.kr article, initial examples were shipped out last month. Reports from mid-2023 suggested that Team Green had sampled 8-layer HBM3E (4th gen) units around summer time—with SK Hynix receiving approval notices soon after. Another South Korean media outlet, DealSite, reckons that NVIDIA's memory qualification process has exposed HBM yield problems across a number of manufacturers. SK Hynix, Samsung and Micron are competing fiercely on the HBM3E front—with hopes of getting their respective products attached to NVIDIA's H200 AI GPU. DigiTimes Asia proposed that SK Hynix is ready to "commence mass production of fifth-generation HBM3E" at some point this month.

SK Hynix is believed to be leading the pack—insiders believe that yield rates are good enough to pass early NVIDIA certification, and advanced 12-layer samples are expected to be approved in the near future. ZDNET reckons that SK Hynix's forward momentum has placed it an advantageous position: "(They) supplied 8-layer HBM3E samples in the second half of last year and passed recent testing. Although the official schedule has not been revealed, mass production is expected to begin as early as this month. Furthermore, SK Hynix supplied 12-layer HBM3E samples to NVIDIA last month. This sample is an extremely early version and is mainly used to establish standards and characteristics of new products. SK Hynix calls it UTV (Universal Test Vehicle)... Since Hynix has already completed the performance verification of the 8-layer HBM3E, it is expected that the 12-layer HBM3E test will not take much time." SK Hynix's Vice President recently revealed that his company's 2024 HBM production volumes for were already sold out, and leadership is already preparing innovations for 2025 and beyond.

Japan's Jiji news agency has cottoned onto a major computer memory industry rumble—a Friday Reuters report suggests that Kioxia has offered an olive branch to SK Hynix, perhaps in a renewed push to get its proposed (and once rejected) merger with Western Digital over the finishing line. The South Korean memory manufacturing juggernaut took great issue with the suggested formation of a mighty Japanese-American 3D NAND memory chip conglomerate—SK Hynix's opposition reportedly placed great pressure on Western Digital (WD), and discussions with Kioxia ended last October.

Kioxia is seemingly eager to resume talks with WD, but requires a thumbs up from SK Hynix—according to Jiji's insider source(s), the Tokyo-headquartered manufacturer is prepared to offer its South Korean rival a nice non-volatile memory production deal. Kioxia's best Japanese 3D NAND fabrication facilities could play host to SK Hynix designs, although it is too early to tell whether this bid has been accepted. The Yokkaichi and Kitakami plants are set to receive a 150 billion yen Government subsidy—Kioxia and WD's joint venture is expected to move into cutting-edge semiconductor production. The Japanese government is hoping to secure its native operations in times of industry flux.

According to the latest report from Reuters, a former Samsung executive was arrested by the South Korean authorities yesterday, being accused of stealing company secrets to build a similar chip production facility in China. The former executive had worked for SK Hynix before joining Samsung, where he was involved in the Samsung Electronics division responsible for semiconductor factories. According to the report, the person planned to build a competing factory 1.5 km from a Samsung chip manufacturing facility in Xian, China. The suspect, who was not identified publically, has a collective of 28 years of experience with the South Korean chip makers.

Interestingly, the suspect also caused financial harm to the company, which the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office estimates to be around 300 billion won ($233 million). Prosecutors have announced the indictment of six additional individuals suspected of involvement in the case, including an employee of an inspection company who is charged with allegedly disclosing the architectural blueprint of Samsung's semiconductor plant. A police official commented, "We will sternly deal with any leakage of our technology abroad and strongly respond to illegal leak of domestic companies' core technologies in semiconductor, automobile and shipbuilding sectors among other."

Hi gamers! I'm Samuel, the PD of Chrono Studio. To all who have been eagerly awaiting Chrono Odyssey, we are thrilled to finally unveil our second trailer giving you an in-depth look at the gameplay itself. At Chrono Studio, we are more than just developers - we are avid gamers who share a passion for epic titles and we believe that MMORPGs are more than just games - they are gateways to unforgettable experiences formed through shared adventures and challenges. Our vision for Chrono Odyssey is to continue the legacy of beloved MMORPGs that have stood the test of time.

At first glance Chrono Odyssey may seem like your typical MMORPG, but what sets Chrono Odyssey apart from the rest is its unparalleled graphics, made by the UE5 engine and our accumulated expertise. We have also elevated combat to new heights by incorporating the Chrono (time) element, which serves as the core of the game's universe, as well as the real-time MMO content enjoyed by hundreds of players to provide a dynamic social experience unlike any other.