NEWS / NOV.2026
Samsung cuts chip simulation time from 18 hours to 41 seconds
Samsung and Nvidia report a computing time of 41 seconds to simulate how a chip heats up and deforms, compared with about 18 hours on a fine grid. For the 41-second run, Samsung used a single Nvidia H100 graphics processor and larger grid cells whose properties were estimated using artificial intelligence.
Samsung cuts chip simulation time from 18 hours to 41 seconds
Samsung Electronics presented a simulation of how a chip heats up and deforms that took 41 seconds to run, compared with about 18 hours in its reference configuration. Samsung engineer Lee Seong-yeop (이성엽) described the test on November 9, 2026, at Nvidia’s AI Day at COEX in Seoul. His team aims to predict which parts of a chip will heat up and how the chip will deform before choosing a design variant to prototype.
For the run that took about 18 hours, Nvidia describes a 32-core processor working on a fine grid. For the 41-second run, Samsung covers the same area of the chip with larger grid cells. NewsTomato specifies that the 41-second run used a single H100 and that Samsung also presented a 17-second run on four graphics processors.
How to represent multiple materials in a single grid cell
On the fine grid, the cells follow the boundaries between materials. A larger cell can contain several materials. With PhysicsNeMo, Samsung uses artificial intelligence to estimate the physical properties that describe how those materials behave together. The simulation software uses these values to solve the equations on a grid with fewer cells. This method is called homogenization.
The 18-hour reference run took about 64,800 seconds, nearly 1,580 times as long as the 41-second run on a single H100. The rounded speedup factor of 1,600 therefore compares two complete configurations. Because Samsung changed both the processor and the grid, the comparison cannot isolate the speedup attributable to the H100 alone.
A team with a limited budget for computing and prototyping could therefore compare more variants and rule out a design that runs too hot earlier in the process. The 41 seconds, however, cover only the time spent solving the equations. The timing excludes preparation of each variant, model training and manufacturing. How much time this saves over the full chip design and validation process remains unknown.
How accurate is the prediction at the hottest point?
Samsung separately checked the material properties estimated using artificial intelligence and the results of the thermal and mechanical simulations. For these checks, NewsTomato reports errors of roughly 0.8% to 1.6% in the cases presented.