Nvidia Invests $3.5B in MediaTek for Custom AI Chips

Nvidia is expanding its strategy around AI infrastructure by investing $3.5 billion in Taiwanese chipmaker MediaTek, a partnership designed to help customers build custom AI chips that can operate alongside Nvidia-powered data centres.

The agreement allows MediaTek to adopt Nvidia technologies that support the development of custom silicon for AI companies and cloud providers. The approach gives organisations more flexibility to design chips for specific workloads while remaining connected to Nvidia’s broader AI computing ecosystem.

Nvidia Expands AI Chip Ecosystem Through MediaTek Partnership

The partnership comes as major technology companies, including Amazon, Google, Microsoft, OpenAI, and Anthropic, invest in developing their own AI chips to reduce dependence on external GPU suppliers. Nvidia’s strategy allows it to support custom chip development while maintaining a role in the infrastructure that connects different computing components.

Through the agreement, MediaTek will gain access to Nvidia’s NVLink Fusion ecosystem. The technology allows different types of chips, including non-Nvidia processors, to communicate at high speeds within AI computing systems.

“Nvidia is an AI infrastructure company,” Dion Harris, Nvidia’s senior director of HPC and AI hyperscaler infrastructure solutions, said during a call with reporters.

Harris said the company expanded beyond individual computing chips years ago and now focuses on providing broader infrastructure platforms for AI workloads.

MediaTek Targets Growing Custom AI Chip Market

MediaTek has been expanding its custom data centre ASIC business as demand for specialised AI processors grows. The company has said it expects its custom AI chip operations to generate $2 billion in revenue in 2026.

MediaTek has highlighted its AI data centre solutions as part of its broader push into advanced computing markets beyond its traditional smartphone and consumer electronics businesses.

Nvidia said the partnership will allow MediaTek to help customers build custom chips using Nvidia’s rack-scale architecture and technology stack. These custom processors can be deployed alongside Nvidia GPUs using the same infrastructure standards.

“Basically, every cloud, every model builder is deploying our platform in some shape, form, or fashion,” Harris said, describing the role Nvidia expects MediaTek to play in expanding access to its AI infrastructure.

Partnership Extends Into AI PCs and Automotive Systems

Beyond data centres, Nvidia and MediaTek will continue working together on additional computing platforms. The companies are collaborating on Nvidia’s DGX Spark desktop AI computer and RTX Spark, Nvidia’s effort to bring AI capabilities to consumer PCs.

The two companies are also continuing development of AI-powered vehicle platforms. MediaTek’s automotive systems use Nvidia RTX graphics technology for intelligent vehicle displays and work with Nvidia Drive AGX for autonomous driving computing workloads.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said AI is transforming multiple computing markets, from large-scale AI infrastructure to personal computers and vehicles. The company said the MediaTek partnership aims to create platforms that enable customers to build specialised AI systems at scale.