<span>STORY: Samsung Electronics made a big move in the AI chip race on Friday.</span><span>It said it’s started shipping samples of its latest high-bandwidth memory – or HBM – chip to customers.</span><span>It pulls the South Korean tech giant ahead of rivals as they compete to send out new versions of HBMs which are critical to AI data centers.</span><span>The new chip is the 12-layer HBM4E and Samsung said it’s more than 20% faster than its previous-generation HBM4 products.</span><span>The rollout is part of Samsung’s efforts to regain momentum in the HBM market.</span><span>It had fallen behind rivals like SK Hynix and Micron in supplying advanced AI memory chips, particularly to Nvidia.</span><span>Samsung’s clients include major AI players Nvidia, AMD and Google, among others.</span><span>Demand has surged for advanced memory chips used in AI servers and processors.</span><span>Investors liked what they heard Friday.</span><span>Shares of Samsung Electronics rose as much as 6.5% in morning trading.</span><span>Rival SK Hynix also saw its shares climb just over 1%.</span>
