Normally, leaks come to us from the usual netizens of the internet mines but sometimes they pop out from strange places, like today's new hint at the chipset that might feature in the Samsung Galaxy S25 series.
In an article on the Google DeepMind website (spotted by NotebookCheck), the Google team seemed to hint that next year's Samsung Galaxy S lineup — or at least part of it — will be powered by a MediaTek chipset.
It's a bit of a strange leak since the DeepMind blog is focused on AlphaChip design and designing processors for AI integration, which is relevant to the future of AI on smartphones but not specifically about what hardware Samsung devices are rocking.
The implicating line comes from deep in the article where authors Anna Goldie and Azalia Mirhoseini wrote, "For example, MediaTek, one of the top chip design companies in the world, extended AlphaChip to accelerate development of their most advanced chips — like the Dimensity Flagship 5G used in Samsung mobile phones — while improving power, performance and chip area."
"For example, MediaTek, one of the top chip design companies in the world, extended AlphaChip to accelerate development of their most advanced chips — like the Dimensity Flagship 5G used in Samsung mobile phones — while improving power, performance and chip area."
— Anna Goldie and Azalia Mirhoseini
MediaTek's next flagship chipset is set to be the Dimensity 9400. The line in the DeepMind blog seems to confirm earlier reports that Samsung might not go all in on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 chipset for next year's S25 lineup. Under this rumor, the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra would feature Qualcomm's next gen processor, while other phones in the lineup would turn to the Dimensity system-on-chip.
Samsung took a somewhat similar approach with its Galaxy S24 lineup this year, though in this case, it used either Qualcomm chips or its own Exynos silicon. The Galaxy S24 Ultra featured the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 exclusively, while only S24 and S24 Plus models released in North America used that silicon. Elsewhere, those phones ran on the Exynos 2400 chipset.
Back in June, reports claimed that Samsung was considering non-Qualcomm chips for next year's phones mostly due to cost. Qualcomm's new chips are expected to raise production costs by at least 20%. Samsung's Exynos chips are most likely out with the company struggling to produce their internal chipset in a viable manner.
The DeepMind article appeared more than a week ago, with reports focusing on the quote only surfacing this week. As of today (October 8), the quote has been edited to remove any mention of the Dimensity chip or Samsung.
The article now reads: "For example, MediaTek, one of the top chip design companies in the world, extended AlphaChip to accelerate development of their most advanced chips while improving power, performance and chip area."
Beyond the altered quotes, you can tell the page was hastily edited, as the page now features odd line breaks where the missing words existed.
That may imply that Samsung or MediaTek are not ready for that information to be out in the world or that deals may still be happening between Samsung and Qualcomm to get the upgraded Snapdragon chips in all of the upcoming Galaxy S25 phones.
This year, Samsung hasn't been afraid of utilizing MediaTek chips as the recently announced Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra and S10 Plus tablets both feature the Dimensity 9300+ as the main CPUs.
Qualcomm is holding its annual Qualcomm Summit later this month where it's set to reveal the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4. Potentially, we might get announcements around devices that will feature the chip, though at past summits, Samsung has been mum about its chip plans.
If we don't get any news at the Summit, then we'll have to wait for official confirmation when Samsung launches the S25 lineup next year, potentially in January 2025.
