Mashable: Samsung Electronics has built the 1st generation tensor for the Pixel 6 series on a 5 nm process.

According to a new report from Naver, Google's second-generation Tensor chipset will enter mass production on the 4nm technology this month. Google has confirmed that it will release two new Pixel 7 models in the fall, both of which will have the latest processor.

As reported, Samsung and Google are discussing the possibility of Samsung producing Google's own server chips. The article says that Samsung has given Google DRAM and NAND flash components as well as the chipsets used in Waymo's self-driving cars.

The report said Tensor was developed in-house by Google. In the past, Qualcomm processors were used and succeeded in developing Tensor through the system-on-chip (SoC) project Whitechapel, which Google had worked on for many years. Samsung Electronics collaborated on the design process.

A semiconductor industry insider explained, "The trend is for Apple to build its own chips in finished products or server companies," and that "Samsung Electronics is attracting foundry customers through design support."

Samsung Electronics has built the first generation tensor for the Pixel 6 series on a 5-nanometer (nm) process. The chip will also be put into the Pixel 6a, which will go on pre-order starting in July. The second-generation tensor is said to be made on the Samsung 4nm process.

In the post-process, panel-level package (PLP) technology is introduced. PLP is a technique in which chips cut from wafers are packaged by placing them on a rectangular panel. Dumping borders can be minimized, which reduces costs and increases productivity.

Samsung Electronics' successive Google orders are meant to strengthen cooperation with global companies. Google smartphones don't sell as much as Samsung Electronics and Apple, but Google also runs data centers, autonomous driving businesses, and so on.

Speaking at the Q1 2022 earnings conference call held last month, Kang Mun-su, vice president of Samsung Electronics' foundry business unit, said, "Foundry demand is robust beyond the production capacity (CAPA) we have" and that "we have signed long-term supply agreements (LTAs) with a number of customers."

Tensor, on the other hand, is a product built on UK ARM intellectual property (IP). It is named after the machine learning (ML) programming platform TensorFlow from Google.