Google reportedly switches to KYEC for Tensor G5 testing

Google is moving forward with its efforts to make fully custom Tensor chips in-house, starting with the phasing out of Samsung and its Exynos foundation. The information comes from a Taiwanese publication Economic Daily according to which Google has handed over testing of the Tensor G5 chip itself developed to a Taiwan-based KYEC, which would give it full authority over the manufacturing of the chip.

As per the schedule, testing is not expected to begin until the middle of this year. The chipset will be used on the Google Pixel 10 series which is expected to debut in October 2025. The post further highlights the AI ​​capabilities of the chipset, which is not surprising given that AI is slowly becoming a standard on flagship phones. For example, you can check out the Samsung Galaxy S24 series.

Speaking of the Tensor G5, the chipset is codenamed “Laguna” and it is likely based on a 3nm process. Moving to a lower manufacturing node provides chipsets with an immense improvement in performance and power efficiency.

Using KYEC instead of Samsung's Exynos chip base would give the Tensor G5 an advantage over Samsung's Exynos SoCs. This is probably the step that will have to be taken before moving next year to the competitor of the Samsung foundry, TSMC.

For those unaware, Exynos chipsets still lag behind Qualcomm's Snapdragon series, although the South Korean giant is trying to close the gap. The Exynos 2400 SoC is a specimen compared to its rival Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC, although reviews of the former are yet to arrive.

Coming back to Google, the Tensor G5 SoCs will power the Google Pixel 10 series in late 2025. The search engine giant will still stick to Samsung for the G4 SoC which is expected to arrive later this year with the Pixel 9 series. Reports suggest that the G4 will bring a slight upgrade over the G3. We're talking about a 1.7x increase in CPU performance and a 14.7x increase in AI performance. This is what we saw with the G4 SoC which is loosely based on Samsung's Exynos 2400 SoC.

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