(Reuters) -Alphabet-owned Google has discussed dropping Broadcom as a supplier of artificial intelligence (AI) chips as early as 2027, The Information reported on Thursday, sending Broadcom shares down 5% in premarket trading.
If that happens, Google will design the chips – known as tensor processing units – in-house, the report said, adding that executives set a goal earlier this year to ditch Broadcom following a standoff between the companies over the price Broadcom was charging for the chips.
Broadcom CEO Hock Tan recently said that generative AI could account for more than 25% of the company’s semiconductor revenue next year.
Google has intensified investments in generative AI this year as it plays catch-up after Microsoft-backed OpenAI’s launch of ChatGPT last year took the tech world by storm.
The Information also said that Google has been working since last year to replace Broadcom with chipmaker Marvell Technology for an advanced chip internally code-named Granite Redux.
Google, Broadcom and Marvell didn’t immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
(Reporting by Kanjyik Ghosh in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D’Souza and Nivedita Bhattacharjee)
