NVIDIA announced an investment of US$ 3.5 billion (approximately BRL 18.09 billion) in MediaTek, establishing a collaboration focused on creating custom chips for artificial intelligence. This move comes amid a scenario where large corporations, such as Amazon, Google, Microsoft, OpenAI, and Anthropic, are developing their own processors.
With this agreement, MediaTek will implement NVIDIA's NVLink Fusion platform to develop AI accelerators that can be incorporated into data centers equipped with NVIDIA technology. This strategy allows NVIDIA to maintain its influence within the ecosystem, even when customers decide to use in-house developed processors.
Several large technology companies and cloud service providers are designing tailor-made chips to meet their specific demands, aiming to reduce dependence on NVIDIA GPUs. Instead of trying to block this trend, NVIDIA is opening up its infrastructure to accept these processors. NVLink Fusion allows chips not manufactured by NVIDIA to connect to the NVLink network, which manages high-speed communication between components.
Dion Harris, Senior Director of Infrastructure Solutions for HPC and AI for Hyperscalers at NVIDIA, stated that NVIDIA is an AI infrastructure company. This is where MediaTek fits in, being able to assist customers in developing customized accelerators and integrating these components into NVIDIA systems, adapting connectivity, memory, performance, and power consumption according to each project's needs.
The Taiwanese manufacturer already has experience in producing custom chips for various segments, including smartphones, smart homes, vehicles, and wireless communications, and is expanding its presence in data center ASICs.
Revenue Projection and Partnership Expansion
MediaTek estimates that this deal could generate US$ 2 billion (about BRL 10.26 billion) in revenue by 2026. The association with NVIDIA has the potential to boost this operation, bringing custom chips closer to the infrastructure used in large AI systems. NVLink Fusion provides a ready base to interconnect these elements, eliminating the need for customers to create the entire structure around a custom chip from scratch.
The cooperation between NVIDIA and MediaTek extends beyond data centers, reaching artificial intelligence computers and automotive platforms. In the automotive sector, MediaTek's solutions utilize NVIDIA technologies for AI and RTX graphics in smart dashboards, and can also operate with the NVIDIA DRIVE AGX platform.
Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA, emphasized that together they are building platforms that apply NVIDIA's accelerated computing in new markets, giving customers the freedom to create distinct AI systems at scale. The investment demonstrates NVIDIA's intention to adapt to a market where its own customers are creating alternatives to its GPUs, seeking to ensure that these new chips remain connected to its infrastructure.