Samsung Electronics Song Jae-hyuk: "AI, Chasing the 'Human Brain'... Semiconductor Performance, Power"

"For artificial intelligence (AI) to catch up with the human brain, it needs to perform faster and use less power. Interestingly, semiconductors are following suit with both of these,"



said Song Jae-hyuk, chief technology officer (CTO) of Samsung Electronics' Device Solutions (DS) Division, in his keynote speech at SEMICON 2025 held at COEX Auditorium in Gangnam-gu, Seoul on the 19th.



Song Jae-hyuk, chief technology officer (CTO) of Samsung Electronics' Device Solutions (DS) Division, is giving a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of SEMICON 2025 held at COEX Auditorium in Gangnam-gu, Seoul on the 19th. [Photo=Reporter Seol Jae-yoon]



For AI to function like the human brain, improved semiconductor performance is essential, which means that the movement ability must be strengthened while using less energy (electricity).



CTO Song explained, "In order to speed up semiconductor performance and reduce power consumption, we need to improve the silicon process, but the difficulty of developing one generation is increasing." He also said, "What used to take one year now takes two to three years." He emphasized that



in order to overcome physical limitations and achieve the performance that semiconductor customers want, "3D structures, new channels, backend resistance reduction, packaging, and bonding technologies are necessary."



CTO Song gave a speech on the day under the theme of 'Semiconductor Innovation for a Better Life.'



He said, "Louis XIV had almost 500 servants, but now we can live much better without the power that Louis XIV enjoyed in the 17th century. That's thanks to the advancement of science and technology."



He added, "AI will dramatically increase productivity and efficiency in the future," and "I asked Gemini and ChatGPT for help while preparing this speech, and their advice will greatly increase our productivity per unit time."



The second keynote speech was given by Luke van den Hove, Chairman and CEO of imec, who said, "As AI models advance, computer systems will contain more than 200 billion transistors." imec is the largest private semiconductor research institute in Europe, and mainly researches next-generation technologies that are 2 to 10 years ahead of commercialization by semiconductor manufacturers.



Chairman van den Hove said, "The advancement of semiconductor technology has already surpassed Moore's Law," and "AI model evolution will continue through approaches that combine new architectures and graphics processing units (GPUs)." He said,



"If the current GPU architecture is ideal for implementing large language model (LLM) AI, a more diverse and new computing architecture is needed for the next vision," and "A more multifunctional chip architecture and technology platform must be developed." He



also introduced the next-generation AI semiconductor platform, 'CMOS 2.0,' that imec is currently researching. Chairman van den Hove explained, "CMOS 2.0 separates wafers into multiple layers and gives them specific functions," and "We can continue to develop even more miniaturized technologies for a long time."



Luke van den Hove, Chairman of imec. [Photo = Reporter Park Ji-eun]



He also said that the CMOS 2.0 miniaturization roadmap could last up to 20 years.



Chairman van den Hove predicted, "The existing gate all-around (GAA) technology will become the standard starting with the 2-nanometer (nm) process and will probably continue for about three generations." He added, "The subsequent processes could be led by the CFET architecture that we announced a few years ago." About



500 companies, including Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, Micron, GlobalFoundries, Infineon, ASML, Applied Materials, Lam Research, and KLA, will participate in SEMICON 2025, held by the International Semiconductor Equipment and Materials Association (SEMI) from the 19th to the 21st.



This year's SEMICON theme is "Lead The Edge." During the event, over 200 experts will introduce the latest technology trends at around 30 conferences. A



SEMI official said, "As SEMICON Korea is a place where semiconductor companies from around the world gather, we hope to discover insights for new business collaborations and enhanced competitiveness."





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