Since Samsung struggles to improve the yield of 3 nm GAA, Google's survival alternative to the core Tensor chip of Pixel phone may be just a matter of time.
Google will launch the Pixel 10 series equipped with Tensor G5 chips in the second half of the year. It is expected that it will be the first time that Google has transferred flagship chips from Samsung to Taiwan for foundry production, but Google did not decide to give up Samsung from the beginning.
An anonymous person provided photos of the Tensor G5 chip suspected to be produced by Samsung on the Pixel 10 prototype to the X account @Jukanlosreve, who focused on the industry dynamics and wrote personal emails. The "SEC" in the photo represents Samsung and does not come from NTD. The "G5" on the left hints that this is a chip used by Google for flagship phones, which means that the Tensor G5 chip was once handed over to Samsung. Some netizens clicked "K3KL4L4" may mean that this component is DRAM rather than Tensor G5. This detail still needs to be further confirmed.
That’s interesting. I received a photo of a Pixel 10 prototype chip, and it’s marked as SEC (Samsung).
It certainly seems that, at least for the early versions of the Pixel 10, they were considering having the Tensor G5 manufactured at Samsung Foundry. https://t.co/zDBHItD3Mx pic.twitter.com/7ikZkyCJPX
— Jukan Choi (@Jukanlosreve) July 8, 2025
Samsung has closely followed why Google did not produce Tensor G5 chips in the 3-nanometer GAA process, indicating that both parties have at least discussed the quantity production matters. However, Google High-level from the headquarters of Mountain View visited Taiwan and signed a three- to five-year agreement with Taiwan Power, producing special chips for the Pixel series, and starting from the Pixel 10 series to the Pixel 14 series for five generations.
Tensor G5 chips are expected to adopt the second-generation 3nm process of Telco, and it is possible to turn to the 2nm process of the next Tensor G6 chip, which is comparable to competitors.
It is worth mentioning that Google has not completely abandoned this partner: the Pixel 10 series is still equipped with Samsung Exynos 5G data chips. If Samsung makes significant progress in cutting-edge lithography technology, Google may still consider more cooperation in the future.
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