Report: AMD's Su Zifeng to meet with Lee Jae-yong next week, possibly securing Samsung HBM supply

AMD CEO Lisa Su plans to visit South Korea next week to meet with Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong, focusing on supply cooperation for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) required for AI chips, reflecting the intense competition among tech giants for AI memory resources.

According to South Korea’s Maeil Business Newspaper, citing industry sources, Su is scheduled to visit Korea on March 18 and plans to meet with Lee Jae-yong and Choi Soo-yeon, CEO of Naver, Korea’s largest internet search engine operator. This is an important diplomatic move by AMD amid the rising AI competition.

Su’s visit to Korea comes at a time when demand for storage chips like HBM, DRAM, and NAND is surging. Tech companies such as AMD and NVIDIA are competing to procure these chips to support data center construction and the ongoing expansion of AI systems. If AMD successfully secures Samsung’s HBM supply, it will help strengthen its position against NVIDIA.

Samsung HBM Collaboration Becomes a Key Topic

According to Maeil Business Newspaper, one of the core topics of Su’s visit is to negotiate with Samsung for supply assurance of high-bandwidth memory needed for AI chip sets.

As a critical component driving high-performance AI computing, HBM market supply remains tight, prompting leading chip companies to accelerate strategic partnerships with memory manufacturers.

Su’s direct meeting with Samsung Chairman Lee Jae-yong highlights the high-level nature of these negotiations.

Discussing AI Collaboration with Naver CEO

In addition to Samsung, Su also plans to meet with Choi Soo-yeon, CEO of Naver, to discuss broader cooperation areas.

Maeil Business Newspaper reports that topics include expanding semiconductor supply for data centers, building sovereign AI infrastructure, and collaborating in next-generation computing technologies. Naver has confirmed the meeting but has not disclosed specific agenda details.

Notably, Su’s trip to Korea coincides closely with NVIDIA’s annual GTC developer conference, scheduled from March 16 to 19 in San Jose, California.

Su’s choice to visit Korea at this time, rather than attend a major competitor’s flagship event, is seen by some as a sign of AMD’s high strategic emphasis on supply chain planning.

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