It appears Google wants its Tensor chips to emerge from Samsung's shadow, as the upcoming chip isn't just ditching more Samsung components, it's also going to be manufactured by the company's main foundry rival, Taiwan-based TSMC.

A leaked component list for the Tensor G5 chip has revealed that a lot of components that were previously sourced from Samsung for Google's custom chip will now be sourced elsewhere. Samsung will this lose out on this crucial revenue on top of the loss for its foundry.

Samsung was instrumental in helping Google get the Tensor project off the ground. The two companies worked together very closely on the internet search giant's custom chip. The first Tensor chip that came out in 2021 was actually the unreleased Exynos 9855, and it was manufactured on the company's 5nm process. Such was the influence Samsung had on the project.

Subsequent versions of the Tensor chip used various Samsung components, including its Exynos modems, and they were also manufactured by the company. However, rumors have been swirling since last year that Google will opt for TSMC's 3nm process to manufacture the Tensor G5. Samsung's yield issues with the 3nm process are well documented and they may just have forced Google to look elsewhere as well.

Beyond that, the list of components that has surfaced shows that compared to the previous version, the Tensor G5's display controller, image signal process, layers, models, and various controllers, are all going to be from suppliers other than Samsung.

This move provides Google with more control over the chipset as the Tensor G5 ditches most, if not all, the off-the-shelf components that Samsung would have otherwise provided. Google presumably wants to kick things up a notch with its custom chips and perhaps it felt that this is the way to go about it.