4,000 TOPS and 3-kW-Beschleuniger: Anthropic may use Samsung's 2nm process for AI accelerator
AI developer Anthropic is reportedly considering "Samsung" Foundry to produce its own custom AI accelerator. The project is expected to utilize Samsung's 2nm SF2 process. For Samsung, securing Anthropic as a client would be a significant win in its ongoing competition with TSMC, though the agreement remains unconfirmed.
Initial production run of 200,000 chips
Rumors regarding Anthropic's potential move to Samsung surfaced in July. The initial production phase is expected to consist of approximately 200,000 chips. This is a relatively small volume for an ASIC project, where production runs typically reach several million units. This limited scale likely serves as a pilot to test feasibility, covering everything from rack design and networking to power delivery and cooling infrastructure.
Performance and HBM3E memory
The chip is expected to deliver roughly 4,000 TOPS in INT8 operations. The reported thermal design power (TDP) is 1,300W. To support large-scale AI models and high-speed data transfer, the accelerator is expected to utilize either 192 GB or 288 GB of HBM3E memory.
Advanced packaging possibilities
Samsung's SF2 process will be manufactured in South Korea using Low-NA EUV lithography. To integrate the HBM memory, Samsung might employ its I-Cube 2.5D packaging technology. Additionally, Samsung is collaborating with Qualcomm on 2.1D packaging solutions via the 2.1D Packaging Alliance, which utilizes organic polymer materials and copper interconnects. It remains to be seen whether these specific packaging technologies will be implemented in the Anthropic project as it approaches the tape-out stage.
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