Samsung Electronics buys British AI tech startup

‍South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics has said that it bought a British startup that develops advanced AI technology as demand for its high-end chips used in artificial intelligence hardware surges.

Oxford Semantic Technologies specialises in knowledge graph technology -- a more advanced way of storing complex information in a web -- Samsung said in a Thursday statement.

It added that it expected to use the technology "not only in mobile devices but also in a wide range of products, including TVs and home appliances, in the future".

Samsung did not disclose the value of the deal.

From generative capabilities such as writing texts from brief instructions to simultaneous translation of phone conversations, tech titans are in a frantic race to more fully deploy AI technology in smartphones and other consumer products.

The purchase of Oxford Semantic marks the latest move by Samsung to strengthen its AI offerings.

Samsung Electronics is the world's biggest producer of memory chips, including versions used in top-of-the-line AI hardware from industry leaders.

The firm is also one of the world's biggest smartphone makers, and the latest models it unveiled in January are powered by its own Galaxy AI tech.

Samsung last week showcased new deployments of AI across a range of its consumer electronic products, from wireless headphones to smartwatches and health and fitness tracking rings.

It also unveiled the latest generation of its AI-packed folding phones.

The South Korean tech giant recently predicted a more than 15-fold increase in its on-year second-quarter operating profits.