AI megadeal: OpenAI and Broadcom enter into strategic partnership for 10 gigawatts of computing power

AI pioneer OpenAI and US chipmaker Broadcom Inc (NASDAQ: AVGO) have announced a multi-year strategic collaboration to develop and deploy 10 gigawatts of OpenAI-designed AI chips. The goal is to build a new generation of scalable AI clusters powered by Broadcom's Ethernet and networking technologies.

The new partnership includes the joint development of customized systems that will be installed in racks in OpenAI data centers and at partners worldwide. Production is scheduled to start in the second half of 2026 and be completed by the end of 2029.

Chips developed in-house for the next generation of AI

OpenAI will design the new AI accelerators itself, incorporating insights from the development of its Frontier models directly into the hardware design.

Partnering with Broadcom is a critical step in building the infrastructure needed to unlock AI's potential and deliver real benefits for people and businesses.

Sam Altman, co-founder and CEO of OpenAI

By developing chips in-house, OpenAI strengthens its independence from established GPU vendors and adds the component of a hardware layer fully optimized for AI workloads to its existing partner ecosystem.

Broadcom provides networking and connectivity solutions

Broadcom will not only support the chip development, but also supply the associated network and Ethernet components."Our partnership with OpenAI continues to set new industry benchmarks for scalable and power-efficient AI clusters," said Charlie Kawwas, Ph.D., President of the Semiconductor Solutions Group at Broadcom.

The planned racks include Broadcom's complete Ethernet, PCIe and optical connectivity solutions. This will create open, standards-based and highly efficient systems for training and inference of large AI models.

Market reaction and significance for the AI location USA

Following the announcement of the cooperation, Broadcom shares rose by almost 10 percent, a sign of the market's great confidence in the strategic importance of this alliance. Financial details of the agreement have not yet been disclosed.

For Broadcom, the partnership strengthens its position as a key provider in the field of Ethernet-based AI infrastructures. For OpenAI, it is a decisive step towards reducing dependence on third-party providers and at the same time massively increasing the performance and energy efficiency of future AI systems.

A step towards artificial general intelligence

"Broadcom's collaboration with OpenAI signifies a pivotal moment in the pursuit of artificial general intelligence," said Hock Tan, President and CEO of Broadcom. The companies see the collaboration as an important step in creating the computing capabilities for the next generation of AI systems. Systems that will enable the transition from specialized models to artificial general intelligence (AGI).