South Korean tech giant Samsung intends to spend over ₩110 trillion ($73.2 billion) on research and development in 2026 as the battle over semiconductor dominance heats up.

Samsung told investors in a corporate disclosure on Thursday that the investment will help it to “secure leadership in the AI semiconductor era” as “the world’s only semiconductor company capable of delivering a one-stop solution encompassing memory, foundry, and advanced packaging.”

If followed through, this would be a record-breaking investment for the company, surpassing last year’s record of ₩90.7 trillion spend on R&D and facility investment.

The announcement comes as Nvidia’s annual product showcase, GTC, draws to a close in San Jose. At the conference, Samsung showcased its HBM4E chip – built for Nvidia’s new Vera Rubin GPU – for the first time and emphasised its close partnership with GPU leader Nvidia on factory development and chip manufacturing. The company’s share price rose 8.25 per cent during the conference, and traders have not yet priced in its new investment announcement.

Thursday’s disclosure also revealed that the company intends to “reorganise” its business structure towards AI-driven, future-focused operations, including advanced robotics. To this end, Samsung says it will pursue merger and acquisition opportunities in sectors including robotics, MedTech, automotive electronics, and HVAC.

AI technology continues to be a major growth sector across tech manufacturing and software development; Nvidia’s chief executive Jensen Huang predicted on Tuesday that the company alone would bring in $1 trillion in revenue from its AI chips over the next two years.

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