Samsung’s AI Energy Strategy: Top 10 Projects Driving Efficiency and Forecasting in 2025-2026

Samsung is strategically leveraging its dominance in semiconductor and device manufacturing to enter the AI-driven energy management market. The company is transitioning from a focus on internal product efficiency to developing and investing in external, commercial-scale AI solutions for energy forecasting and infrastructure optimization. This pivot is defined by key investments and partnerships in 2025 and 2026 that position Samsung to capture value in the high-growth energy technology sector.

Samsung Commercial Projects: How AI is Optimizing Energy Use in 2026

Samsung is operationalizing its AI capabilities to target energy management, expanding from internal product optimization to commercial deployments that address industrial and network energy consumption.

• Between 2021 and 2024, Samsung’s efforts centered on foundational hardware efficiency, including the development of LPDDR 6 memory and a roadmap for energy-efficient 2 nm and 1.4 nm chips to reduce power draw in its own devices.
• A strategic shift occurred in 2025 and 2026, marked by investments and partnerships targeting external energy markets. The January 2026 investment in Amperon, an AI-powered energy forecasting company, signals a direct entry into the utility and grid management sector.
• In parallel, a September 2025 partnership with TELUS deployed Canada’s first commercial AI-powered RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC), a software platform designed specifically to optimize network performance and reduce energy consumption in telecommunications infrastructure.
• This commercial activity demonstrates a clear progression from developing efficient components to deploying integrated AI software solutions that manage energy consumption for external industrial clients.

Samsung’s Strategic AI Energy Investments Signal New Market Entry for 2026

Samsung’s recent investment patterns reveal a strategic allocation of capital toward external AI companies specializing in energy and security, building upon its massive internal investment in core semiconductor technology.

• The foundation was a $356 billion strategic investment plan announced in 2022, dedicating significant capital to semiconductors and AI to build a dominant hardware position.
• This was reinforced by an ongoing $15 billion investment into a new semiconductor R&D complex, which became operational in 2025 and is tasked with developing the next generation of energy-efficient chips.
• The January 2026 investment in Amperon marks a distinct pivot, channeling funds into a specialized AI software company focused on energy forecasting, thereby buying entry into a new vertical market.
• This is complemented by a 2026 investment in robotics firm Skild AI and a 2025 investment in AI chip startup Rebellions, creating an ecosystem of hardware and software assets to support new ventures like energy services.

AI Becomes Second-Highest CEO Priority by 2024

The dramatic rise of AI as a top CEO concern provides the strategic context for Samsung’s $356 billion investment plan. This trend validates the company’s significant capital allocation toward AI to build a dominant hardware and software position.

(Source: IoT Analytics)

Table: Samsung Strategic AI Investments in Energy and Enabling Technologies

Samsung’s Partnership Ecosystem for AI-Driven Energy Efficiency in 2026

Samsung is constructing a multi-layered partnership ecosystem to execute its AI energy strategy, combining telecommunications, cloud infrastructure, and manufacturing collaborations to build and deploy its solutions.

• The September 2025 partnership with TELUS serves as the primary commercial proof point, deploying an AI-powered software controller to actively manage and reduce energy use in a live 5 G network.
• Foundational network efficiency is being advanced through a February 2026 collaboration with KT Corporation to verify 6 G technologies and an earlier August 2024 partnership with Intel on v RAN, both of which are critical for building future low-energy networks.
• The October 2025 collaboration with NVIDIA to create an “AI Megafactory” provides a platform for optimizing the energy-intensive process of semiconductor manufacturing itself, a technology that can be productized for other industries.
• Underpinning these initiatives is the deep partnership with Google, whose Gemini AI models provide the cloud-based intelligence that powers many of Samsung’s on-device and network-level AI services.

Table: Samsung Key Partnerships for AI and Energy Applications

Samsung’s Global AI Energy Footprint Expands from Asia to North America

Samsung’s commercial AI activities related to energy management show a distinct geographical expansion from its R&D and manufacturing base in South Korea to new markets in North America.

• Activity between 2021 and 2024 was concentrated in South Korea, with major investments in domestic R&D facilities like the $15 billion semiconductor complex and partnerships with Korean firms like Rebellions.
• The period from 2025 to today marks a clear push into North American markets. The 2026 investment in Amperon plants a flag in the U.S. energy hub of Houston, Texas.
• The 2025 partnership with TELUS established a commercial foothold for AI-driven network energy management in Canada.
• This expansion into the U.S. is further supported by up to $6.4 billion in U.S. CHIPS Act funding to grow Samsung’s semiconductor manufacturing ecosystem in Texas, creating a local supply chain for its energy-efficient hardware.

Samsung’s AI for Energy: From R&D to Commercial Application by 2026

The technological maturity of Samsung’s AI for energy has advanced from internal, component-level R&D to external, software-based commercial services in less than two years.

• The 2021–2024 period focused on developing foundational, energy-efficient hardware. This included partnerships with design firms like Synopsys, the announcement of its LPDDR 6 memory, and a public roadmap for mass-producing 2 nm chips by 2025.
• The years 2025 and 2026 represent the shift to commercial application. The deployment of the AI-powered RIC with TELUS is not a pilot but a commercial service operating on a live network to actively reduce energy consumption.
• Similarly, the investment in Amperon in 2026 validates that AI for energy forecasting is a mature enough market for Samsung to enter as an investor and strategic partner.
• This rapid progression from developing efficient hardware to deploying energy-managing software demonstrates that the underlying AI technology is now robust enough for real-world industrial and utility applications.

Top AI Packages Powering New Software Solutions

As Samsung shifts from hardware R&D to software-based commercial services, this chart shows the popular development tools like Scikit-learn and PyTorch that underpin such commercial AI applications.

(Source: Orca Security)

SWOT Analysis: Samsung’s Position in the AI Energy Market

Samsung’s vertically integrated structure from silicon to software provides a powerful advantage for entering the AI energy market, though its reliance on external partners for large-scale AI models remains a strategic risk.

• Strengths have been amplified by leveraging hardware leadership into new software markets.
• Weaknesses persist in the dependency on partners like Google for core AI capabilities.
• Opportunities have expanded from device efficiency to lucrative industrial and grid management sectors.
• Threats are now concentrated at the ecosystem level, where software partners and integrated competitors like Apple hold significant influence.

OpenAI Models Dominate Organizational AI Adoption Rates

This chart highlights a key weakness mentioned in the SWOT analysis: Samsung’s dependency on external partners. The market dominance of OpenAI’s models, such as GPT-4o at 44.72% adoption, illustrates the landscape of large-scale models Samsung must navigate.

(Source: Orca Security)

Table: SWOT Analysis for Samsung in AI Energy

Outlook for 2026: Samsung to Scale AI Energy Solutions Beyond Devices

Looking ahead to the remainder of 2026, Samsung is positioned to scale its AI-driven energy solutions from niche network deployments to broader industrial and utility markets, establishing a new revenue stream outside its traditional consumer electronics business.

• The investment in Amperon is a critical signal to watch. Success in this partnership could lead to deeper integration or acquisition, making Samsung a direct player in the lucrative energy forecasting and grid services market.
• The commercial success of the AI-powered RIC with TELUS will likely be used as a case study to market the solution to other global telecommunications operators, creating a scalable software business focused on network energy optimization.
• Progress on the AI Megafactory with NVIDIA will be a key indicator of Samsung’s ability to apply AI to optimize its own energy-intensive manufacturing processes, a technology that could be packaged and sold to other industrial clients.
• The market performance of its in-house Mach-1 AI accelerator, launched in 2025, will determine its ability to control the cost and efficiency of its AI services, which is essential for competing profitably in the energy services sector.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the main change in Samsung’s AI energy strategy for 2025-2026?

The main change is a strategic pivot from focusing on internal product efficiency (like energy-saving chips in their own devices) to developing and investing in external, commercial-scale AI software solutions. These new solutions are designed to manage energy for industrial clients, particularly in the telecommunications and utility grid sectors.

What are the two most important commercial projects proving Samsung’s new energy strategy?

The two key projects are the September 2025 partnership with TELUS to deploy Canada’s first commercial AI-powered RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) for network energy reduction, and the January 2026 investment in Amperon, an AI-powered energy forecasting company, marking a direct entry into the grid management market.

How does Samsung’s strength in semiconductors support its move into the AI energy market?

Samsung leverages its leadership in semiconductors as a foundation. By investing heavily ($356 billion plan) in developing next-generation, energy-efficient chips (like 2nm and 1.4nm chips) and AI accelerators (like Mach-1), Samsung creates the powerful and efficient hardware necessary to run the complex AI software solutions it is now selling for energy management and forecasting.

Is Samsung developing its own AI models or relying on partners for its AI services?

Samsung is using a mixed strategy but is heavily reliant on partners for large-scale AI models. While it is developing its own hardware (Mach-1 chip) and exploring its own models (Gauss), the company’s core AI features, such as those in its devices, depend on a deep partnership with Google for the Gemini AI model. This dependency is identified as a strategic weakness.

What new industries is Samsung targeting with its AI energy solutions?

Samsung is expanding beyond consumer electronics to target two main industrial sectors. The first is telecommunications, where it provides AI software to optimize network energy consumption (as seen with TELUS). The second is the utility and energy grid sector, which it entered through its strategic investment in the AI forecasting firm Amperon.