Google will partner with MediaTek to develop its AI TPU chips
By ForGeeks The Google company may replace Broadcom with MediaTek to design its new Tensor Processing Units (TPUs) – specialized chips for artificial intelligence (AI) processing. Despite this, Google doesn’t seem intent on completely severing its relationship with Broadcom. This change applies to seventh-generation TPU chips, which will be used both for the company’s internal needs and for users of the Google Cloud.
Why is Google choosing MediaTek?”
Reports say one reason for the partner change is MediaTek’s excellent relationship with TSMC, the world’s largest chip fab. This will allow MediaTek to offer Google more favorable terms and lower manufacturing costs compared to Broadcom. Around last year, Google spent between $6 billion and $9 billion to manufacture its TPU chips.
Google won’t completely sever its partnership with Broadcom, but partnering with MediaTek could significantly reduce the cost of developing and manufacturing chips for AI.
Why is Google developing its own TPUs?”
Google is actively developing its TPUs in order to reduce its reliance on Nvidia’s GPU chips, which are most often used to train AI models. This allows Google to control the process of developing chips that are more efficiently customized for AI work. The TPU is used for the company’s internal needs and is also made available to Google Cloud customers.
In contrast to its competitors such as OpenAI and Meta* Platforms, which rely heavily on Nvidia, Google has been able to reduce risk and increase its independence from external chip supply. For example, OpenAI faced a shortage of Nvidia chips, making it difficult to launch their new GPT-4.5.
Why use GPUs rather than CPUs for AI?”
GPUs are used to render graphics and process large amounts of data in parallel, which is ideal for matrix computing used in AI. Unlike CPUs, which focus on sequential data processing, GPUs are more efficient at parallel processing, making them indispensable for AI model training tasks.
* Owned by Meta, it is recognized as an extremist organization in the Russian Federation and its activities are banned.
