Nvidia and MediaTek, the Taiwan-based semiconductor company, said they have expanded an existing strategic partnership.
The arrangement combines Nvidia's software and rack-scale architecture, the system design used to link multiple chips together inside AI data centres, with MediaTek's expertise in designing custom chips for specific customers.
As part of the deal, Nvidia is taking a $3.5 billion position in MediaTek through convertible bonds, a form of debt that can later convert into company shares.
What MediaTek must do in return
The agreement requires MediaTek to adopt Nvidia's NVLink Fusion interconnect technology, the system that allows different companies' chips to work together inside Nvidia's hardware and software ecosystem.
That means MediaTek's custom AI accelerators and central processing units, the chips built to a customer's specific requirements rather than sold off the shelf, will be able to interoperate directly with Nvidia's own hardware.
For MediaTek, the deal provides capital to build Nvidia-compatible chips.
For Nvidia, it secures creditor protections through the bond structure along with potential equity upside if MediaTek's business grows stronger.
Product lines named
The companies said they will continue developing future generations of Nvidia's RTX Spark and DGX Spark chip lines together.
Nvidia framed the investment as a way to reach new customers through MediaTek's existing client base.
Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang described MediaTek as "one of the world's great semiconductor companies."
Roadmap
The companies said they will keep collaborating on future chip generations, as well as on platforms supporting AI-powered vehicles and compact AI systems designed to run models locally rather than through cloud servers.
The roadmap effectively ties MediaTek's custom-chip customers into Nvidia's wider AI infrastructure ecosystem, extending Nvidia's reach into hardware it does not build itself.
