Samsung Invests in Dutch AI Chip Startup Euclid

Interior of a semiconductor clean room bathed in blue light

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As of September 15, 2026, Samsung Electronics has joined a fresh funding round for Euclid, a Dutch AI chip startup, as one of its lead backers. Euclid is a pre-revenue startup designing AI inference chips with an architecture that breaks from Nvidia's GPU design, and hasn't shipped physical silicon yet. The move fits a pattern of Samsung steadily backing Dutch chip startups.

About ₩310 billion (~$220M)Size of Euclid's new funding round that Samsung joined

2028Year Euclid targets for its first physical chip

$450 million+Total funding Axelera AI has raised with Samsung's backing

Key points

Per CNBC, Samsung joined Euclid's €200 million funding round alongside Somerset Capital Partners and EQT's Scale-Up Europe Fund.
Founded in 2024, Euclid is designing AI inference chips with a redesigned processor and memory architecture, targeting a 2028 launch for physical chips.
Samsung has also backed the Dutch edge-AI firm Axelera AI since 2024; Axelera has raised more than $450 million total after its latest round.
Samsung Electronics recently partnered with France's Mistral AI too, expanding its European AI investments to co-develop AI models specialized in chip design and manufacturing.

Euclid, the company Samsung just backed, is drawing attention for trying to break away from the GPU-centric architecture that has defined the AI chip market. Unlike existing AI accelerators, it's redesigning not just the processor that handles computation but also the memory architecture that stores and moves data — a different approach from the ground up, industry watchers say. Still, it's early days: the product hasn't launched and hasn't been tested at commercial scale.

Industry observers read Samsung's participation as a bet on the next generation of AI accelerators. As major tech companies — Google, Meta, Microsoft among them — build their own chips to cut reliance on any single GPU maker, partnering with a startup pursuing a different chip architecture gives Samsung a foothold that could translate into future memory supply deals or foundry contracts.

This isn't Samsung's first move like this. The company has previously put money into another Dutch edge-AI chipmaker. That company's chips are manufactured using Samsung Foundry's advanced process nodes, and Samsung's venture arm returned as an existing investor in that startup's latest funding round as well.

Samsung's European AI bets extend beyond chip startups. It has also struck a strategic partnership with a major French AI startup to jointly build AI models specialized for chip design and manufacturing, broadening its investments across both hardware and software.

In Korea right nowIn Korea, many read this investment as Samsung reaching beyond its stronghold in memory chips to try to claim a foothold in the next wave of AI silicon. The thinking: build relationships with promising startups early, in case the AI industry's heavy dependence on one GPU maker shifts. The timing — as Samsung's foundry business badly needs a competitiveness boost — is also drawing notice.

FAQ

What is Euclid?

A Dutch AI chip startup founded in 2024 that's developing AI inference chips with an architecture different from standard GPUs, targeting a physical product launch in 2028.

How does this relate to Nvidia?

Euclid's chip design departs from the GPU architecture that made Nvidia central to the AI market, which is drawing attention amid Big Tech's push to reduce GPU dependence.

Is this Samsung's first investment in a Dutch startup?

No — Samsung has invested in another Dutch edge-AI firm since 2024, and the Euclid investment is seen as an extension of that strategy.