• Collaboration between Korea's top-notch tech companies expected to bolster Korea's edge in AI competitiveness
• NAVER to provide its expertise in software, including hyperscale AI and compression algorithms, for developing a semiconductor solution for AI
• HyperCLOVA to be used from the initial stages of development to develop and verify solutions that address the actual needs that arise from using hyperscale AI
• Samsung Electronics to develop semiconductor solutions that can solve bottlenecks in large-scale data processing

SEONGNAM, South Korea, Dec. 6, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- NAVER's scope of hyperscale AI technology will be expanded to the semiconductor industry as a result of the company's collaboration with Samsung Electronics.

NAVER Corporation (CEO Choi Soo-yeon) and Samsung Electronics (CEO Jong-Hee Han, Kye Hyun Kyung) have signed an MOU for collaboration on developing semiconductor solutions for AI, and formed a working-level task force.

The two companies stated that the mutual collaboration between NAVER, a global internet company with top-notch AI technology, and Samsung Electronics, the world leader in advanced memory technology, will bring Korea's AI technology to the next level with the development of new semiconductor solutions that will help transform AI-enabled businesses of the future.

Developing semiconductor solutions for AI technology requires a convergence of competencies in not just hyperscale AI, but also software, service, and hardware. NAVER and Samsung Electronics, both leading companies in their respective areas of expertise, will join hands to develop new semiconductor solutions capable of addressing bottlenecks in the current AI system and maximizing efficiency in power consumption in consideration of the actual hyperscale AI environment.

NAVER boasts the software expertise required for developing semiconductor solutions for AI, with its world-class hyperscale AI based on the company's own supercomputer infrastructure, along with experience and know-how of applying such technology to NAVER's services used by over 36 million users daily. NAVER also has expertise in compression algorithms that boasts performance that is 2 to 3 times fast as that of existing models even on GPU.  

Samsung Electronics, as a world leader in semiconductors, has vast experience and competitive technologies in not only developing and manufacturing semiconductors but also next-generation memory technologies such as computational storage, processing-in-memory (PIM) and processing-near-memory (PNM), as well as Compute Express Link (CXL), for addressing bottlenecks in large-scale AI systems.

NAVER and Samsung Electronics will first embark on the development and technology verification of a compression solution critical to the application and expansion of hyperscale AI models. The two companies also plan to continue their collaboration on next-generation memory solutions that support high-performance computing, such as SmartSSD, HBM-PIM and CXL.

In particular, as NAVER already operates services embedded with hyperscale AI, the two companies are expected to create semiconductor solutions that address the actual needs of the end-users starting from the initial stages of development while enabling optimization at the system level.

"Combining our acquired knowledge and know-how from HyperCLOVA with Samsung's semiconductor manufacturing prowess, we believe we can create an entirely new class of solutions that can better tackle the challenges of today's AI technologies," said Suk Geun Chung, Head of NAVER's CLOVA CIC. "We look forward to broadening our AI capabilities and bolstering our edge in AI competitiveness through this strategic partnership."

"Through our collaboration with NAVER, we will develop cutting-edge semiconductor solutions to solve the memory bottleneck in large-scale AI systems," said Jinman Han, Executive Vice President of Memory Global Sales & Marketing at Samsung Electronics. "With tailored solutions that reflect the most pressing needs of AI service providers and users, we are committed to broadening our market-leading memory lineup including computational storage, PIM and more, to fully accommodate the ever-increasing scale of data."

About NAVER

Founded in 1999, NAVER is Korea's largest Internet company with more than 700 million users worldwide. It operates No.1 search engine in Korea 'NAVER' and the nation's No.1 e-commerce platform, as well as other global online services such as LINE mobile messenger, Webtoon and Webnovel publishing, SNOW video camera app and ZEPETO metaverse platform. In addition to its own offerings, NAVER is building a strong global business portfolio through partnerships with industry-leading companies, including Softbank, Poshmark, Wattpad and Hybe. NAVER recorded sales of KRW 6.8 trillion (USD 5.6 billion) in 2021. The company invests approximately 25% of its annual sales on R&D projects, pursuing innovation through continuous research and development of future technologies, such as artificial intelligence, robotics and mobility. To learn more, visit www.navercorp.com/en