Samsung needs 'do-or-die' mindset to survive AI challenges: Report

A Samsung spokesperson told AFP Monday that Lee had not “said the message himself” without giving further details.

Samsung Electronics must adopt a "do-or-die" mindset, its chairman told executives, to confront the challenges posed by artificial intelligence that are upending the industry, Yonhap news reported Monday.

South Korean giant Samsung has been struggling to meet Nvidia's requirements as rival SK hynix has become the US titan's main supplier of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips for its AI graphics processing units (GPU).

The world's largest memory-chip maker already acknowledged in October that it was facing a "crisis", and admitted questions had arisen about its "fundamental technological competitiveness and the future of the company".

"Samsung is facing a do-or-die survival issue. We need to reflect deeply from the top," chairman Lee Jae-yong was quoted as saying during a training for top executives, Yonhap reported.

Lee's message was to emphasise "what matters is not the crisis itself, but the attitude in dealing with it," Yonhap reported, citing company sources.

Lee also said that "even if it means sacrificing short-term profits, we must invest for the future," Yonhap added.

A Samsung spokesperson told AFP Monday that Lee had not "said the message himself" without giving further details.