Marvell Technology has given Alphabet's Google the right to buy shares worth about $12.18 billion as part of an agreement to develop custom artificial intelligence chips. Marvell shares jumped more than 11% in premarket trading after the announcement, while rival Broadcom fell more than 3%, according to Reuters.
Marvell Technology has given Google a right to buy a stake valued at approximately $12.18 billion as part of a partnership to develop custom chips for the Alphabet owned technology company, according to Reuters.
The agreement comes as demand for specialized AI processors grows, with major technology companies seeking alternatives to Nvidia's graphics processors for increasingly demanding artificial intelligence workloads.
Under the agreement, Marvell will develop several technologies for Google, including AI inference accelerators, storage and networking components, memory-interface controllers and near-memory computing technologies.
Marvell's shares rose more than 11% in premarket trading following the announcement, while shares of larger rival Broadcom declined more than 3%, Reuters reported.
The deal strengthens Marvell's position in the custom chip market, where semiconductor companies develop processors and related technologies tailored to the requirements of large technology and cloud-computing companies.
Marvell has identified custom computing as a major part of its data center business. In its corporate filings, the company said it has developed custom products for major U.S. hyperscale cloud companies and has been investing in technologies including custom AI accelerators, high-bandwidth memory and high-speed interconnects.
Google already develops its own Tensor Processing Units (TPUs), specialized processors designed for AI workloads. The growing use of custom chips reflects the technology industry's efforts to expand computing capacity and improve efficiency as demand for AI infrastructure increases. Reuters cited Google's TPUs as an example of the broader shift toward custom processors.
The agreement also puts Marvell alongside Broadcom in Google's custom AI-chip strategy. Reuters reported that Broadcom signed a long-term agreement with Google in April to develop and supply future generations of custom AI chips and other components for Google's next-generation AI racks through 2031.
For Marvell, the Google agreement adds to its exposure to the rapidly expanding AI infrastructure market, where demand extends beyond processors to memory, networking, storage and other components required to operate large-scale AI systems.
The deal highlights the increasingly competitive market for custom AI hardware as technology companies look to build specialized computing infrastructure alongside products from chipmakers such as Nvidia and Broadcom.
Comments (0)
You must be logged in to post comments.
No comments yet. Be the first to start the conversation!