Google-Marvell Deal to Develop Custom AI Chips Through 2033
Google has signed a long-term agreement with Marvell Technology to develop custom AI chips and infrastructure components through 2033, while securing the right to purchase up to 58.97 million Marvell shares. If fully exercised and all vesting conditions are met, the arrangement could give Google a stake of nearly 71% in the chipmaker.
Google and Marvell Expand Custom AI Chip Partnership
The agreement goes beyond conventional chip development, covering a range of custom silicon solutions connected to Google's Tensor Processing Unit (TPU) ecosystem, which the company uses to power artificial intelligence workloads across its infrastructure.
The two companies will also work on custom accelerators for AI inference, as well as components for networking, storage, memory controllers and near-memory computing.
The broader scope reflects the growing importance of integrated infrastructure as technology companies expand their use of AI models. Processing efficiency, data-transfer speeds and operating costs have become increasingly important as companies compete to scale AI systems.
Google Secures Option to Buy Marvell Shares
As part of the agreement, Marvell granted Google the right to purchase as many as 58.97 million shares at an exercise price of $206.58 per share. Exercising the rights in full would represent a total value of about $12.2 billion.
The potential stake could reach nearly 71% of Marvell if the relevant vesting requirements are satisfied and Google exercises all of its rights.
However, the shares will not become available to Google at once. Most are subject to vesting milestones linked to the volume of business and revenue generated from products Marvell develops for Google.
Share Vesting Tied to Revenue Growth
The structure of the agreement links Google's potential ownership stake directly to the commercial performance of the partnership.
About 1.4 million shares are expected to vest automatically during the first year, while approximately 57.6 million additional shares are tied to qualifying revenue generated from Google's business with Marvell. Those shares will vest in stages as revenue reaches specified levels through 2033.
The full vesting thresholds are estimated to correspond to about $120 billion in qualifying revenue from Google's purchases through 2033. That figure represents the revenue level required for the shares to vest and does not constitute an obligation for Google to spend $120 billion.
The arrangement therefore ties Google's potential ownership in Marvell to the expansion of their commercial relationship rather than treating the transaction as a conventional equity investment.
Marvell Strengthens Its Position in Custom AI Chips
The partnership could further strengthen Marvell's position in the custom-chip market, where competition is intensifying as major cloud and technology companies increasingly develop processors tailored to their own requirements instead of relying exclusively on off-the-shelf solutions.
Marvell already works with major technology companies on custom silicon and data-center infrastructure while expanding its activities in optical interconnects, networking and custom-chip technologies.
In March 2026, Marvell announced a strategic partnership with Nvidia through the NVLink Fusion platform. The agreement included cooperation on custom processors, networking solutions and silicon photonics technologies, alongside a $2 billion investment from Nvidia in Marvell.
Together, these developments underscore Marvell's efforts to expand its role in the AI infrastructure ecosystem as demand grows for hardware designed around the specific requirements of individual platforms.
Marvell Deal Puts Focus on Google's Broadening Supplier Base
The agreement also comes as investors closely monitor Google's relationship with Broadcom, one of its key partners in the development of TPU chips.
News of the Marvell agreement put pressure on Broadcom shares, as investors interpreted Marvell's entry into Google's custom-chip ecosystem as evidence that Google is broadening its AI hardware supplier base.
Broadcom's shares fell more than 5% following the announcement, while Marvell's stock gained about 8% in trading that same day, according to market reports.
The agreement does not necessarily signal a complete replacement of Broadcom. Reports indicate that Google is seeking to diversify its chip supply ecosystem while maintaining relationships with other existing partners.
AI Infrastructure Race Drives Demand for Custom Hardware
The Google-Marvell agreement comes amid a broader technology industry race to secure the infrastructure required to expand artificial intelligence capabilities.
As demand for AI model training and inference increases, competition is extending beyond the development of models themselves to include processors, memory, networking, storage and data-center systems.
Google has been building an increasingly integrated computing ecosystem around its TPU technology and custom components, while other technology companies are pursuing their own processors or entering long-term agreements with chip designers.
Deal Connects Investment to Commercial Growth
The structure of the agreement represents a different model for the relationship between technology companies and infrastructure suppliers.
Rather than functioning solely as a long-term supply arrangement, the deal creates a potential ownership interest that is directly linked to the growth of the underlying business relationship and the revenue generated from it.
For Marvell, expanding its business with Google could become a significant source of revenue over the coming years. Google, meanwhile, has the opportunity to acquire a substantial stake in a company involved in developing components for its future AI infrastructure.
Google Deepens Its Custom-Chip Strategy
The agreement highlights the growing role of custom silicon in Google's AI strategy as computing costs rise and the need for greater efficiency becomes more important.
Purpose-built chips can be optimized for specific workloads while giving technology companies greater control over performance, power consumption, costs and the integration of different system components.
With the partnership extending through 2033, the Google-Marvell agreement appears structured as a long-term component of Google's AI infrastructure plans rather than a short-term collaboration focused on a single product.