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Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who is visiting countries in Asia this week, said in a meeting with South Korean President Yoon Seok-yul on Thursday that Meta is trying to address geopolitical risk issues in Taiwan. Electronics for AI wants to expand its collaboration with chips, where TSMC. It is the headquarters of the world’s largest contract chip manufacturing company.
Zuckerberg and Yun also discussed ways to increase cooperation in the artificial intelligence and augmented reality industries, a South Korean presidential official said at a briefing today (in Korean).
AI processors – the manufacturing and procurement, and the development of advanced technologies that are more efficient than the current generation of chips – have become a key priority for any company working in the AI field, and thus the focus. have gone For Meta for the future of its social media and hardware devices business.
Zuckerberg reportedly met with Samsung executives on Wednesday night, including Samsung Executive Chairman JY Lee, to discuss potential collaborations around AI chips, semiconductors, and augmented reality. A Samsung spokesperson declined to comment on Zuckerberg’s meeting with Samsung when contacted by TechCrunch for a response to the report, but did not dispute it either.
TSMC opened its first chip fabrication plant in Japan to diversify its supply chains away from Taiwan as the US-China tech war intensifies. TSMC-owned Japan Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing (JASM), which was established by the Japanese government and corporations in 2020, began construction of the plant in April 2022. JASM is set to set up its second chip plant in Japan, which will begin construction. By the end of 2024.
The Meta founder also met Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Tuesday to discuss AI and semiconductors. Japan is trying to revive its chip-making industry, which is about 10 years behind Taiwan and South Korea when it comes to next-generation chips.
Zuckerberg’s visit coincides with what has become a major global AI chip race. Nvidia continues to dominate the global market for AI chips, leaving a huge opportunity for countries that have traditionally been strong in processors or are reviving their innovation instincts. . That’s something tech companies building AI businesses are eager to contribute to reduce their reliance on Nvidia. To that end, the social media giant is stepping up its efforts to secure AI chips, and is working on its own in-house AI chip, Artemis, for its data centers. Big tech companies like Microsoft, OpenAI, Amazon, and Google alike are scrambling for AI chips to support their AI ambitions.
The Meta’s Desire over XR: Meeting with LG
Today’s meetings are the latest in a series of visits that Meta’s CEO is making to the region. Just yesterday, Zuckerberg met with LG Electronics CEO William Cho in Seoul during his visit to Asia. LG Electronics said it had a two-hour long meeting with Zuckerberg to discuss the two companies’ potential strategic collaboration on augmented reality (XR) device development.
When TechCrunch asked if the discussion included concrete plans between the two sides, an LG Electronics spokesperson said that LG Electronics and Meta were “working closely even before tomorrow’s senior management meeting,” and that Both companies were anticipating more opportunities moving forward. . There are no details on financial terms or specifically what products the collaboration will include.
“The top management of both companies discussed strategic directions and timelines for cooperation,” an LG spokesman said, citing company CEO Cho, who told local reporters after the meeting.
On behalf of LG, the Korean tech company wants to bring Meta’s augmented reality (XR) platform to LG’s content and consumer devices – for example, its TVs – in the Korean company’s newly established XR business, a ” to create distinctive ecosystems,” LG said in a statement.
LG, like every other tech company in the world today, is currently tooting the AI horn. But realistically, it hasn’t made many waves in the AI race to date — neither as a chipmaker, nor as a developer of AI-centric products, nor in services. Meta presents an opportunity for LG to partner with a company that has made more progress, yet does not offer a direct competitor to LG in terms of its larger consumer electronics business, and also AI. It breaks the dominance of some other big players. Places like Google and OpenAI.
For example: The company specifically pointed out that Cho “expressed a keen interest in Meta’s advanced technology demonstrations, particularly focusing on Meta’s large language models and its potential for on-device AI integration.” Doing” and Ray-Ban Meta Smart glasses, the company said.
After LG shuttered its struggling mobile business globally in April 2021, the Korean electronics and appliance giant focused its business on other growth areas, including smart homes, connected devices, Internet of Things (IoT), electric vehicle (EV) components and robotics and – needless to say – artificial intelligence platforms.
In late November, LG said its home entertainment division had newly formed an augmented reality (XR) team as part of an organizational shakeup to accelerate development of an XR device by 2025.
“We are excited to see a long-time leader in consumer electronics share our commitment to creating the next generation of XR devices,” said a Meta spokesperson. Meta’s vision for a more open ecosystem depends on collaboration between the industry’s most innovative companies and we look forward to our work with LG resulting in future computing platforms for people around the world.” There will be more ways.