By introducing its cutting-edge Broadcom Thor Ultra networking chip, designed to support large-scale artificial intelligence, Broadcom is preparing to intensify its competition with Nvidia. Designed to enable data center operators to link big clusters of computer units, Thor Ultra is meant to provide better scalability and performance.
A key infrastructure component in data centers, the Broadcom Thor Ultra chip serves as the backbone that transfers data among processing units. Broadcom claims that the improved interconnect capability would let operators stitch together far more compute chips than existing designs allow, helping to support the severe demand for compute power. This decision signals a sharpening of Broadcom’s foray into the artificial intelligence hardware sector, one long dominated by Nvidia’s ecosystem.
Broadcom is not only aiming at Nvidia’s networking interface operations but also situating itself more centrally in the artificial intelligence stack. Broadcom last week struck an agreement to provide OpenAI with bespoke chips totalling 10 gigawatts starting in the latter part of 2026.
This move reflects a bigger global trend in AI chip deals like the recent approval of Nvidia chip sales to UAE, showing how governments and tech companies are working closely together in the race for AI leadership.
Broadcom’s strategy to grab market share in data center artificial intelligence and loosen Nvidia’s hold on artificial intelligence compute infrastructure may be seen in that agreement.
From a financial viewpoint, Broadcom sees the developing artificial intelligence business as a significant growth path. Demand for AI-Infrastructures both networking and compute, could account for a market value between $60 billion and $90 billion by 2027, the company predicts. Broadcom revealed in its fiscal 2024 report that its AI-related sales already totaled $12.2 billion. Broadcom engineers assert that they doubled the Broadcom Thor Ultra’s bandwidth relative to its predecessor in its chip development labs in San Jose and placed it through a thorough evaluation.
While the firm produces detailed designs and reference systems to let its clients construct compatible infrastructure around its silicon, it does not make whole servers. Broadcom Thor Ultra chip bets that networking technology will be a key lever in the artificial intelligence arms race as it moves into this next stage.
