OpenAI is talking to $700 billion chip giant you've never heard of to produce chip capable of rivaling Nvidia — Broadcom is bigger than Intel, AMD, Arm and Qualcomm together

Could this chip form part of "Stargate"?

News By Wayne Williams published 27 July 2024

There’s no question that Nvidia has been the firm to profit the most from the recent boost and AI revolution, as it recently became the third most valuable company on the planet, ahead of Alphabet and Amazon, and for a time in June, it even took the top spot, rising above Microsoft and Apple.

All of the big tech players want to be involved in AI, but few want to be dependent on Nvidia, and for that reason, many are seeking alternatives where possible. Microsoft and OpenAI are reportedly in the process of planning a data center project which would include a potentially AMD-powered AI supercomputer named "Stargate.”

Now, the The Information claims OpenAI has had discussions with several chip designers, including Broadcom, about developing a new AI chip to challenge Nvidia.

Bigger than AMD and Intel

Broadcom is best known for designing, developing, and supplying a broad range of semiconductor and infrastructure software solutions, with products used in data center networking, home connectivity, broadband access, telecommunications equipment, smartphones, and base stations. 

It's currently listed as the 13th most valuable company in the world, which puts it above better known tech giants like Samsung, AMD, Intel, Arm, IBM, and Qualcomm.

Whether OpenAI’s conversation with Broadcom, and other suitors, relates to Stargate is unknown at this point, but The Information does suggest that whatever the end result, it’s unlikely to rival anything Nvidia is making right now, given the years of research and development – and money – that it would take.

OpenAI has, however, reportedly hired former members of Google who have experience developing Tensor processors; that’s how serious the firm is about having its own hardware.

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