South Korean chipmakers launch $1 billion entity to challenge global AI chip leaders

South Korean AI chipmakers Rebellion and Sabion Korea have signed a final merger agreement.

The two companies announced merger talks in June 2024, and the deal is the latest attempt by South Korean companies to challenge global AI chip leaders such as Nvidia.

While Sabion will technically remain the surviving entity, the company will be renamed Rebellion after the merger, with its leadership taking over the new company. The new merged entity, valued at about $1 billion, is set to launch this year, according to the Korea JoongAng Daily.

The deal comes after Rebellion received a $15 million investment in July from Wa’ed Ventures, the venture capital arm of Saudi Aramco, which the company said brought its total funding to more than $225 million.

On the other hand, Sabion Korea has several prominent shareholders, including South Korea’s largest telecom company SK Telecom and the world’s second-largest memory chip maker SK hynix.

SK Telecom said it will remain a strategic investor to help the newly merged company expand its presence in the global AI chip market, according to JoongAng Daily.

The chipmaker SK hynix is ​​the only South Korean company that supplies HPM memory chips, a key component of Nvidia’s AI accelerators.

Rebellion, which was founded in 2020, has launched two AI chips in its first three years, started mass production of its AI chip ATOM earlier in 2024, and plans to launch its AI chip “Rebelle” by the end of this year.