[News] Marvell, AMD Reportedly Shake Up Google TPU Race, Putting Broadcom, MediaTek Under Pressure
The battle for custom AI chips is heating up, with two heavyweight chipmakers—Marvell and AMD—potentially joining the race for Google’s next-generation Tensor Processing Units (TPUs).
According to Reuters, Marvell has struck a deal to help Google develop custom AI chips, including technologies tied to its TPU ecosystem, while giving Google an option to acquire a potential $12.2 billion stake in the chipmaker. The agreement, as noted by the report, signals a major vote of confidence from a leading cloud provider and could generate roughly $120 billion in revenue for Marvell through fiscal 2033.
AMD could also be entering the fray. As eported by Tom’s Hardware, citing analysts, Google may be working with AMD on the development of one of its 10th-generation TPUs. If confirmed, the deal would mark AMD’s first major custom AI ASIC engagement and could point to a new TPU design that pairs Google’s proprietary accelerators with integrated general-purpose CPU cores, the report adds.
Faster TPU Multisourcing Puts Broadcom, MediaTek on Alert
The developments point to a rapidly expanding supplier landscape around Google’s TPU roadmap, with Marvell and AMD potentially emerging as major challengers alongside incumbent partner Broadcom and Taiwan’s MediaTek.
The Economic Daily News notes that Broadcom had previously held Google’s TPU design business exclusively before the search giant also brought in MediaTek. In June, Broadcom first revealed during its earnings call that its major customer Google was “looking for other suppliers,” sending shockwaves through the industry.
MediaTek has never officially confirmed its Google TPU business, but the search giant is widely regarded as a major customer of its ASIC operations. Market watchers cited by the report believe MediaTek likely secured Google’s TPU v8 program and may have also landed the follow-on v9 project. AMD’s potential entry into the 10th-generation TPU program could therefore put MediaTek up against a formidable new rival.
Still, MediaTek is stepping up its AI ASIC ambitions. CEO Rick Tsai said in late July that its first AI ASIC will enter mass production in the fourth quarter, with data center revenue expected to top $2 billion in 2026. The company also raised its 2027 AI ASIC market-share target to 15%–20%, from 10%–15%, as product competitiveness improves, Yahoo! Finance reports.
The shifting supplier mix could also reshape the competitive balance. Morningstar analyst William Kerwin said Google appears to be moving toward a multisource TPU strategy faster than expected, but viewed the Marvell deal more as a sign of a growing TPU market than a direct threat to Broadcom. Even so, Broadcom’s previously expected majority share could now give way to a more even split among suppliers, Morningstar reports.
New Collaboration Mode in Making
On the other hand, Reuters also highlights that the Marvell deal also highlights a broader issue: as AI companies, cloud providers and chipmakers forge ever-closer commercial and financial ties, the industry’s ecosystem is becoming increasingly intertwined. The deal comes just days after NVIDIA agreed to backstop up to $105 billion tied to an Ohio data-center project that OpenAI plans to lease, the report notes.
In a similar move, AMD agreed in October to supply OpenAI with AI chips expected to generate tens of billions of dollars in annual revenue, while also granting the ChatGPT developer an option to acquire a stake of up to about 10% in AMD, Reuters reports.
Read more
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