Broadcom ships latest networking chip to speed AI
HighlightsBroadcom has launched its latest networking chip, the Tomahawk 6, which offers double the performance of its predecessor and enhanced traffic control features. The Tomahawk 6 is designed to support the construction of large-scale data centers for artificial intelligence applications, potentially accommodating over 100,000 graphics processing units (GPUs). This new chip utilizes a chiplet design, which has become popular among chip manufacturers, and is being produced using Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company's advanced three nanometer process.
Broadcom
has begun to ship its latest networking chip that aims to speed AI, the company said on Tuesday.
The chip, called the
Tomahawk 6
, boasts double the performance compared with the prior version and other traffic control features that make the networking chip significantly more efficient, Ram Velaga, a Broadcom senior vice president, told Reuters in a Monday interview.
The speed boost means that fewer
networking switches
are needed to perform the same task, Velaga said.
Broadcom's networking chips have gained increased importance because of AI. When constructing the necessary data centers for AI applications, infrastructure builders must string together hundreds or thousands of chips.
Building large-scale clusters of networked chips requires specialized networking gear and chips, of which the Tomahawk series of processors is one such component.
With the Tomahawk 6, Broadcom's engineers have boosted its speed and capabilities to the point where it can be used to construct the larger data centers that are necessary for AI, which can be over 100,000 graphics processors (GPUs) strung together, Velaga said.
"In a couple of years, you will start to see a million GPUs housed inside a physical building," he said.
Broadcom's networking chips use the Ethernet networking protocol, which has been a networking standard for decades. Nvidia produces hardware that uses a rival tech called InfiniBand and several products based on Ethernet.
"All of these networks can be very simply done on Ethernet, you don't need esoteric technologies," Velaga said.
The Tomahawk 6 is the first product in that line that will use several chips combined into a single package, a tech known as chiplets that is widely adopted by other chip designers such as Advanced Micro Devices. Adding chiplets roughly doubled the amount of silicon area used in the design, Velaga said.
Broadcom is producing the Tomahawk switch on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co's three nanometer process.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
India Gazette
16 hours ago
- India Gazette
Taiwan's semiconductor giant TSMC's revenue grows by 39.6% in May 2025 (YoY)
ANI 10 Jun 2025, 13:04 GMT+10 New Delhi [India], June 10 (ANI): Taiwan's Multinational semiconductor company, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) on Tuesday, reported a rise of 39.6 per cent (year on year) in its net revenue for May 2025. The company reported a net revenue of NTD 320.52 billion (USD 10.70 billion) for May 2025, as compared to NTD 229.62 billion (USD 7.67 billion) reported for May on a month-on-month basis, the revenue of TSMC declined by 8.3 per cent in May 2025 as compared with April's figure of NTD 349.57 billion (USD 11.67 billion).For the first five months of this year, the revenue of the company was at NTD 1,509.34 billion (USD 50.38 billion), which was nearly 43 per cent more than what was reported for the same period of the previous year. TSMC served over 500 customers worldwide in 2024, and it manufactured 11,878 products for various applications covering a variety of end markets, including high-performance computing, smartphones, the Internet of Things (IoT), automotive, and digital consumer to the company, the annual capacity of the manufacturing facilities managed by TSMC and its subsidiaries exceeded 16 million 12-inch equivalent wafers in 2024. Last month, the company reported a significant rise in revenue figures for April 2025, attributed to a surge in demand for advanced postponed the commencement of construction for its second wafer fabrication plant in Kumamoto, Japan, citing significant traffic issues impacting TSMC also confirmed that the company has no plans to establish a manufacturing plant in the Middle East, specifically dismissing rumours about building a chip foundry in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). (ANI)
Time of India
3 days ago
- Time of India
Broadcom rides on AI chip demand to deliver upbeat revenue forecast
Broadcom forecast third-quarter revenue above Wall Street estimates on Thursday, betting on strong demand for its networking and custom AI computing chips. However, the company's shares fell 4% in extended trading, after gaining about 12% this year, as the forecast failed to impress investors who have bet heavily on chip stocks, anticipating substantial growth driven by advancements in generative AI technology . Broadcom forecast third-quarter revenue of around $15.80 billion, compared with analysts' average estimate of $15.71 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG. "Clearly, expectations were high coming into the print with the stock rising almost 30% in the past month," said Kinngai Chan, senior research analyst at Summit Insights Group. Broadcom, a key player in the AI hardware ecosystem, helps design custom processors that are highly specialized integrated circuits designed for AI and cloud computing companies such as OpenAI and Google. The Palo Alto, California-based company has begun shipping its latest networking chip, the Tomahawk 6, designed to accelerate AI workloads. The networking chip doubles the performance from its predecessor and significantly improves the efficiency of bits flying across data center networks. "We expect growth in AI semiconductor revenue to accelerate to $5.1 billion in Q3, delivering ten consecutive quarters of growth, as our hyperscale partners continue to invest," Broadcom CEO Hock Tan said. Non-AI semiconductor revenue is close to the bottom and has been relatively slow to recover, Tan said on a post-earnings call. Revenue from Broadcom's semiconductor segment, which supplies products for data centers and networking, rose 16.7% to $8.41 billion in the second quarter. The company reported quarterly revenue of $15 billion, compared with estimates of $14.99 billion.
Mint
4 days ago
- Mint
Broadcom, the $1 trillion stock you shouldn't ignore, makes AI investment case
Broadcom shares traded lower Friday following a mixed set of fiscal second-quarter earnings that should still underscore the semiconductor and software company's compelling position in the artificial-intelligence-investment race. Broadcom, a tech group valued at just $125 billion five years ago, is now one of three key AI suppliers. Broadcom, with a market cap of more than $1.2 trillion, trails Nvidia in terms of market value, which now has a market cap of $3.42 trillion. But Broadcom also is almost seven times larger than Advanced Micro Devices. That's in large part related to the company's standout offering of application-specific integrated circuits, also known as ASIC chips. The specialized semiconductors help hyperscalers like Apple, Alphabet's Google, and Meta Platforms build out their massive AI models. China-based ByteDance, the owner of short-form video app TikTok, also is a Broadcom client. ASIC chips allow for the movement of information through these model networks, which Broadcom also helps construct, by easing traffic congestion and boosting speed and reliability. That allowed Broadcom to grow its AI-related revenue by around 46% from last year, with a second quarter tally of $4.4 billion. The AI growth rate, in fact, was more than double the 20% advance for overall revenue, which came in just ahead of Wall Street forecasts of $15 billion. Broadcom CEO Hock Tan sees more gains ahead, especially as hyperscalers transition from building their massive AI networks to training them to make decisions and perform tasks for their end customers. By 2027, Broadcom has said, the serviceable addressable market, or SAM, for AI processors and networking chips likely will rise to between $60 billion and $90 billion. 'Our partners are still unwavering in their plan to invest despite the uncertain economic environment," Tan told analysts on a conference call late Thursday. 'In fact, what we've seen recently is that they are doubling down on inference to monetize their platforms." Tan sees current-quarter revenue in the region of $15.8 billion, a 21% advance from last year, a tally that was only modestly firmer than Wall Street forecasts. AI revenue is predicted to rise 60% to $5.1 billion. 'The grade of growth we are seeing in 2025 will sustain into 2026, based on improved visibility and the fact that we're seeing inference coming in on top of the demand for training as the clusters get built up again," Tan said. Shares in Broadcom, which have soared 85% over the past 12 months and have risen 12% on the year, compared with gains of 16% and 4.2%, respectively, for larger rival Nvidia, were down 3% in premarket trading Friday at $252.16. That could suggest some profit-taking from the second-quarter update, which only just matched Wall Street's lofty growth forecasts. Analysts, however, have started to lift their long-term price targets on the back of Broadcom's compelling position in the broader AI investment narrative. Morgan Stanley analyst Joseph Moore lifted his price target by $10, taking it to $270 a share, while BofA Securities analyst Vivek Arya lifted his by $60 to $300. Benchmark analyst Cody Acree raised his Broadcom price target by $60 to $315 a share. 'With the company's expected continue growth in its AI businesses, we believe Broadcom is extremely well-positioned to capitalize on what we expect to be improving industry fundamentals over both the short and long-term, with the company uniquely situated to reap the benefits of the macro industry trend toward growing usage of custom XPU silicon to more efficiently drive customer-specific workloads, with accelerating growth in inferencing applications," Acree wrote in a research note.
