Samsung Electronics Co.’s pivotal chip division reported a smaller-than-expected profit as the world’s largest memory chipmaker fights to narrow the lead arch-rival SK Hynix Inc. has in the artificial intelligence arena.

SK Hynix is the sole supplier of the advanced HBM chips to Nvidia, and had recently clocked a bumper fourth-quarter profit on AI-fueled chip demand. Its fourth-quarter profit also surpassed earnings from Samsung for the quarter.

Samsung Electronics has obtained approval to supply its fifth-generation high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips to U.S. tech giant Nvidia, Bloomberg reported on Jan. 31. Citing unnamed sources, Bloomberg said Samsung’s 8-layer HBM3E passed Nvidia’s qualification test in December.

Samsung Electronics Co.’s pivotal chip division reported a smaller-than-expected profit as the world’s largest memory maker fights to narrow the lead arch-rival SK Hynix Inc. has in the artificial intelligence arena.