Nvidia invests $3.5B in MediaTek as part of expanded AI chip partnership
Nvidia Corp. has bought $3.5 billion worth of MediaTek Inc. convertible bonds as part of an expanded partnership that the companies announced today.
A convertible bond is a debt instrument that the buyer can turn into shares later on. Nvidia regularly buys stakes in partners as part of technical collaborations. Earlier this year, it purchased $2 billion worth of shares in Marvell Technologies Inc., a MediaTek competitor.
Taiwan-based MediaTek is best known as a supplier of smartphone and connected device processors. It also has a custom chip design business that specializes in artificial intelligence accelerators. According to Nvidia, that unit is the first focus of the newly expanded partnership.
Companies that hire MediaTek to design an AI accelerator can choose from a catalog of on-chip networking technologies. Some can connect the processor to other chips in the same rack, while others facilitate data movement across racks. Going forward, MediaTek will offer Nvidia’s NVLink Fusion networking technology as an interconnect option.
