- Nvidia invests $2 billion to bring Marvell into the NVLink Fusion ecosystem
- NVLink Fusion allows third-party accelerators to communicate with Nvidia GPUs efficiently
- Marvell Provides Custom XPUs and Scalable Networks for Heterogeneous AI Infrastructures
Nvidia has invested $2 billion in Marvell Technology and entered into a strategic partnership connecting the custom chip designer to Nvidia’s AI factory ecosystem through NVLink Fusion.
NVLink Fusion enables third-party accelerators to communicate with Nvidia components over a high-bandwidth, low-latency interconnect while maintaining compatibility with Nvidia’s rack-scale AI platforms.
The move integrates Marvell’s capabilities in optical DSP, high-performance analog, silicon photonics and custom XPUs with Nvidia’s GPU, CPU and networking infrastructure.
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Nvidia expands its AI ecosystem
“The inference inflection has arrived. Demand for token generation is surging and the world is racing to build AI factories,” said Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of Nvidia.
“Together with Marvell, we are enabling customers to leverage Nvidia’s AI infrastructure ecosystem and scale it to build specialized AI computing.”
NVLink Fusion was first launched in May 2025 as a platform for heterogeneous AI infrastructure.
It allows non-Nvidia accelerators to communicate with Nvidia GPUs over a high-bandwidth fabric.
Marvell will provide custom XPUs and scalable networks compatible with NVLink Fusion for the partnership.
Nvidia will supply Vera CPU, ConnectX NIC, BlueField DPU and NVLink interconnect components.
Each NVLink Fusion platform must include at least one Nvidia product to function properly, and this means that Marvell-designed ASICs still generate revenue for Nvidia despite using custom silicon.
“By connecting Marvell’s leadership in optical DSP, high-performance analog, silicon photonics and custom silicon with Nvidia’s growing AI ecosystem through NVLink Fusion, we are enabling customers to build a scalable and efficient AI infrastructure,” said Matt Murphy, president and CEO of Marvell.
Marvell reported $8.2 billion in revenue for its fiscal 2026 year, which ended in January 2026, with data center revenue accounting for more than 74% of the total.
The company’s acquisition of Celestial AI late last year added photonic fabric technology to its portfolio, and this deal now places that capability within Nvidia’s ecosystem.
The two companies will also collaborate on silicon photonics technology and transforming the global telecommunications network into AI infrastructure using Nvidia’s Aerial AI-RAN for 5G and 6G networks.
Marvell is not the only company joining Nvidia’s proprietary ecosystem, as Samsung Foundry joined the NVLink Fusion program in October of last year.
Arm followed soon after, entering the program in November and allowing its licensees to build NVLink-compatible CPUs for a broader range of applications.
However, not all major chipmakers have signed on, as Nvidia’s rivals AMD, Intel and Broadcom remain notably absent from the program.
Instead, these competitors have chosen to support the UALink open standard as a competitive rack-scale interconnect, creating a clear divide in the industry.
The absence of these rivals is important because Marvell is already helping Amazon develop its Trainium series of AI accelerators, putting the company in an unusual position.
That existing relationship with Amazon predates this new partnership with Nvidia by several years, creating potential tension between the two deals.
Nvidia and Marvell’s announcement does not address whether the collaboration with Trainium will arise from this deal, leaving the question unanswered.
However, Nvidia’s $2 billion investment manages to attract a key custom silicon designer into a proprietary ecosystem where it controls the interconnect standard.
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