Proof that the Pixel 10's Tensor G5 will be manufactured by TSMC

Google's custom Tensor processors have been developed in close collaboration with Samsung's silicon division since the first generation chip in 2021. While this arrangement has allowed Google to develop its processors in significantly less time and with fewer engineers than would otherwise be required, it also meant that Google limited to Samsung technologies. That was fine in most cases, but one area where the Tensor chips definitely suffered was temperature and efficiency. Lately, Samsung's Foundry has been no match for TSMC.

Fortunately, it looks like this is going to change soon. At the end of last year we confirmed that the upcoming one Pixel 9s Tensor G4 is still produced by Samsung and will be a pretty minor upgrade general. However, recent leaks have suggested that the Tensor G5 will be manufactured by TSMC, making it Google's first chip made without help from Samsung.

Thanks to information noted by the Android Authority team in publicly available trading databases, we can prove the rumors to be true and provide some more insight into the new chip.

Some additional context is needed to understand the source we used. When companies import or export, they are required to declare the content, value and type of goods being traded. You may have encountered something similar when importing something from abroad. Your country's customs office may ask you to complete a form to declare the contents and value of the items being imported so that you can pay the correct amount of tax.

Some countries share these statements with third parties who request them, resulting in services that search engines provide for this data (some are free). This sometimes allows us to obtain information about upcoming devices, which has proven useful recently in various leaks, including some related to Qualcomm for example.

What you see above is the shipping manifest of a Tensor G5 sample chip found in publicly available databases. The description may seem very complicated, so let's break it down.

First of all, how do we even know this is the chip we think it is? It's simple: “LGA” is the abbreviated code name of the Tensor G5, “Laguna Beach”, which has been known for a while. Similarly, Google has abbreviated 'Whitechapel' (first generation Tensor) as 'WHI' and 'Zuma Pro' (Tensor G4) as “ZPR.”

As you can see, the statement directly mentions TSMC and InFO POP, a packaging technology exclusive to TSMC. While this is already big – it confirms that the leaks were correct – the statement provides more information for us to investigate.

The chip revision is “A0”, the earliest available silicon, most likely broken in some way, which will be corrected in future revisions before release. “OTP, V1” means the earliest version of the one-time programmable data in the chip. Google can change some chip parameters (often related to security, power, and locking down certain features) without changing the physical structure of the chip. In this case it is the first revision (for comparison, the final version of Tensor G3 has OTP V5). “NPI-OPEN” further confirms that this is a very early example of the chip: NPI is “New Product Introduction”, the process by which a new chip is brought to market, where the production steps are still being worked on. The successful tests also verify that the chip is at least somewhat functional, specifically the SLT (system level test), which tests a completed chip in a complete test device and simulates the basic usage scenarios of a retail device.

All of this would make sense considering the chip is about 16 months out from release. To get this brand new platform up and running, Google needs more time than usual, so producing the first samples so early is a logical step.

The listing also states that the chip has 16GB of package-on-package RAM, manufactured by SEC (Samsung Electronics Co). This is consistent with the leaks that the The Pixel 9 Pro has 16 GB of RAMwhich will likely set the standard for the Pixel 10.

One final thing we can learn from the entry itself is that the exporter was Google LLC in Taiwan, and the importer was a company called Tessolve Semiconductor in India. Tessolve is a company specialized in semiconductor solutions, including verification and testing. It's likely that Google is working with it to take over some of the work previously done by Samsung.

While the Pixel 9 isn't even out yet, knowing that the Pixel 10 will use a chip made by TSMC makes us even more excited about the future. Don't get us wrong, Pixels are great phones still as they are today, but they have certainly been held back by the substandard production process of their chips, so this will hopefully make them even better and more competitive.