Samsung, Mistral AI build semiconductor-focused AI after Korea-France summit

On the 8th (local time), Samsung Electronics signed a strategic partnership with French artificial intelligence (AI) corporation 'Mistral AI' to jointly develop a proprietary AI model specialized for semiconductor processes. The partnership coincided with the Korea-France summit. The two companies plan to build 'semiconductor-specialized AI' that enhances productivity and precision across semiconductor operations by combining semiconductor technology and manufacturing data from Samsung Electronics' DS (Device Solutions) institutional sector with Mistral AI's high-efficiency AI model technology. Mistral AI is drawing attention as a leading player in Europe's AI ecosystem. It was founded in 2023 by talent from Google DeepMind and Meta. Mistral AI unveiled the large language model (LLM) 'Mistral Large,' which rivals OpenAI's GPT-4, and launched the chatbot 'Le Chat' based on it, earning recognition for building a Europe-based ChatGPT ecosystem. Samsung Electronics plans to use Mistral AI's solutions, including Mistral Large, to develop a proprietary AI model optimized for DS institutional sector proprietary data, and apply it to semiconductor design and manufacturing sites to improve manufacturing efficiency and quality. The two companies will also cooperate to build an AI platform and operating system optimized for semiconductor operations. They plan to implement the AI model in a way that allows it to run on Samsung Electronics' internal infrastructure so that data related to semiconductors, a national core technology, can be used safely without transfer to the outside. Samsung Electronics also made a large-scale equity investment in Mistral AI. The aim is to lay the groundwork for long-term technology cooperation and joint business initiatives. Through a series D funding round led by Samsung Electronics, Mistral AI secured an investment of 3 billion euros (about 4.7 trillion won). Samsung Electronics plans to expand the collaboration across the DS institutional sector and build an AI-based semiconductor ecosystem that can extend to customers and partners. Jun Young-hyun, head of Samsung Electronics' DS institutional sector, said, 'As the complexity of semiconductor design and manufacturing increases rapidly, AI capabilities that use vast amounts of data safely and precisely are emerging as a key competitive edge,' and added, 'Together with Mistral AI, we will build AI models and platforms specialized for the semiconductor industry to set a new standard for AI-driven semiconductor innovation.'