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The custom AI ASIC state of play (May 2026) — Broadcom deals, Google TPUs, Meta MTIA & beyond

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Why This Matters

The rapid growth of custom AI ASICs signifies a major shift in the AI hardware landscape, with hyperscalers and chipmakers like Broadcom and Marvell expanding their market share significantly. This trend highlights a move towards highly specialized chips tailored for specific workloads, reducing reliance on traditional GPUs and potentially transforming AI infrastructure. As the market approaches a new peak in ASIC shipments, industry players and consumers alike will experience faster, more efficient AI capabilities driven by these custom solutions.

Key Takeaways

Nvidia still holds approximately 70% of the AI chip market share, but that share is projected to erode as Google, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, and OpenAI invest billions in purpose-built chips designed for their specific workloads. ASIC-based AI server shipments are projected to reach 27.8% of the market in 2026, the highest share since 2023, which also forecasts that custom ASIC shipments will grow 44.6% year-over-year in 2026, nearly triple the 16.1% growth rate projected for merchant GPUs.

This is being enabled almost entirely by TSMC, which fabricates chips for all five hyperscalers and for Broadcom, the dominant custom AI chip architect. Broadcom alone carries a $73 billion AI backlog and is targeting $100 billion in annual AI chip revenue by 2027.

Marvell, which has partnered with Amazon on Trainium and Microsoft on Maia, projects up to $11 billion in AI ASIC revenue for 2026. Together, Broadcom and Marvell control roughly 95% of the custom AI ASIC co-design market.

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So, with the market projected to expand significantly across 2026 and beyond, we take a look at what companies are currently up to and where they might be headed in the future.

Broadcom

(Image credit: Getty Images / Justin Sullivan)

Broadcom, which has arguably emerged as the core enabler of the AI ASIC ecosystem, reported $8.4 billion in AI semiconductor revenue for Q1 FY2026 (ending February 2026), a 106% year-over-year increase, and guided to $10.7 billion in Q2. CEO Hock Tan told investors the company has "line of sight to achieve AI revenue from chips in excess of $100 billion in 2027," backed by a disclosed $73 billion AI backlog.

Broadcom has confirmed six major XPU customers, including Google, which remains the longest-standing partner, with seven generations of co-designed TPU's since 2014. OpenAI signed a multi-year collaboration in October 2025 for 10 gigawatts of custom accelerators, with first deployment targeting the second half of 2026 using both 3nm and 2nm designs. That deal came after OpenAI was widely reported to be behind a separate $10 billion order. However, Broadcom semiconductor president Charlie Kawwas joked on CNBC that OpenAI "has not given me that PO yet," leaving the identity of the mystery customer officially unconfirmed.

Meta, ByteDance, and Fujitsu round out the confirmed customer list, and analysts have identified Apple and Arm/SoftBank as potential future engagements. Arm is separately developing a custom CPU for OpenAI's Broadcom-built accelerator, a contract that could be worth billions to SoftBank.

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