Google appears to be calling in Marvell to help keep its TPU data centre beasts from tripping over themselves.
According to Tom’s Hardware AI data centres are filling up with ASICs, GPUs and orchestration-friendly CPUs, which makes the humble networking chip rather less humble.
Without decent networking silicon, all those expensive accelerators spend too much time waiting for data and too little time chewing through models. Google is reportedly tackling the latency problem by tapping Marvell to design a custom networking chip for its TPUs.
The chip is expected to use one of Intel’s advanced processes, either 18A or 18AP, according to Funda AI and tipster Jukan.
A networking chip links individual ASICs into a larger, synchronised number-crunching slab. It coordinates data flow between ASIC clusters, manages congestion, keeps operations in step and trims latency in real time.
AI factories are now less like tidy server rooms and more like vast electrical barns stuffed with compute.
The reported move comes as TSMC’s advanced-node capacity remains tight, making alternatives to the Taiwanese foundry more interesting to hyperscalers. The Marvell-designed networking chip is expected to reach volume production by the end of 2027.
That timing suggests it could be paired with Google’s coming Humufish TPU, known as TPUv8e.
For that chip, Google is rumoured to be designing the ASIC’s main die, while MediaTek handles I/O and back-end design. Intel is expected to handle fabrication and EMIB-based packaging, giving Chipzilla another seat at the custom AI silicon table.
Google has already deployed its TPUs across at least 11 data centre regions worldwide, including two dedicated AI zones. That sort of footprint makes efficient networking less of a nice-to-have and more of a survival mechanism.
Marvell gets another useful win as custom silicon becomes one of the livelier corners of the AI infrastructure market. The company has already been enjoying the warm glow of praise from Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang.
Huang reportedly described Marvell as “the next trillion-dollar company,” which is the sort of line that keeps investors happy.
