SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korean AI chip developers Rebellions Inc and Sapeon Korea Inc are seeking a merger, Sapeon parent SK Telecom Co said on Wednesday, in South Korea’s latest attempt to challenge global AI chip leader Nvidia as a boom in artificial intelligence continued.
The consolidation aims to capture the global AI semiconductor market over the next two to three years, a window of time that South Korea must not miss as AI competition intensifies around the world, SK Telecom said in a statement .
The merged company will seek to gain a strong position in neural processing units (NPUs) used in AI, with Rebellions responsible for managing the merged entity.
AI chip startup Rebellions’ ATOM chip, launched last year, was the first NPU developed in South Korea to be used in a data center for a large language model (LLM) and entered mass production this year. Sapeon unveiled its next-generation X330 AI chip in November last year.
Given the speed at which AI is penetrating various applications, the merger is expected to be signed during the third quarter of this year, and the combined company is expected to launch by the end of the year, SK Telecom said.
(Reporting by Joyce Lee; Editing by Jason Neely)
