Marvell Enters Chip Battle With Broadcom as Google Seeks Custom Silicon Options

Google has been working with Broadcom to develop custom silicon for its Tensor Processing Units (TPUs), but that partnership may be changing. In a recent SEC filing, Marvell announced that it will be developing custom silicon for Google, including AI inference accelerators and storage controllers.

The technologies listed in the filing are all ones that Broadcom is capable of furnishing, so this move doesn't necessarily mean that Google is cutting ties with its current partner. However, it does suggest that Google is diversifying its suppliers to ensure it's getting the best deal.

Marvell has developed a comprehensive suite of hardware IP in recent years, including high-speed SerDes and silicon photonics interconnects. This technology could be used for dynamic memory allocation in TPU clusters, allowing Google to reallocate additional memory based on workload needs.

The filing also mentions that Marvell issued Google a warrant to acquire nearly 59 million shares worth roughly $12.2 billion. Whether Google will exercise this option is unclear, but it would likely embroil the company in a long-term chip design collaboration.