Taipei: Taiwan's MediaTek, the world's leading mobile chip developer in terms of shipments, is in talks with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (TSMC) to manufacture some of its chips in the US, Nikkei Asia reported Monday. MediaTek Corporate Vice President JC Hsu stated that, while the strategy is not yet finalized, it may include chips for "sensitive" applications or automotive use. "We are preparing to potentially put some of our chips into production in Arizona later," Hsu said on Monday.
According to Anadolu Agency, Hsu explained that for certain automotive chips or those used in more sensitive applications, some US customers prefer to localize production in the US. They also consider potential issues related to semiconductor tariffs. As a result, MediaTek is undertaking preparation work, although a finalized plan is not yet in place. Recently, chip giants AMD, Apple, and Nvidia agreed to work with TSMC to produce chips in the US.
Separately, MediaTek unveiled the Dimensity 9500, its newest flagship 5G chipset for agentic AI in smartphones. The chipset is manufactured in Taiwan utilizing the 3-nanometer chip manufacturing process developed by TSMC. According to Hsu, the most significant innovation of the latest chipset is its ability to perform several functionalities that previously required significant cloud computing resources directly on the device.
The chip maker showcased several on-device capabilities on Monday, such as the ability to instantly create high-resolution images from text prompts and summarize lengthy and complex papers. Hsu noted that the mobile CPU can now run graphics-intensive games that were previously limited to specialized consoles.
MediaTek announced that by the end of 2026, it would begin releasing its next-generation chipset, which is built using TSMC's cutting-edge 2-nanometer technology. Manufacturing chips with such cutting-edge technology demonstrates the company's commitment to investing in the latest developments and staying ahead of the AI competition, according to the report.