Jargon: Broadcom's XPUs -- November 1, 2025

Locator: 49319XPUS.  

See this post, also. 

Jargon / chips:

• CPUs: general-use chips that "run" the device (desktop computer, laptop, tablet, wearable).
• GPUs: optimized for specific functions, but not AI; working alongside CPUs
• NPUs: optimized for specific functions, specifically AI for "edge" devices.
• TPUs: optimized for AI in the cloud. 

To this, add Broadcom's XPUs.

Link here.

Broadcom this week announced that it had signed an agreement to supply $10 billion worth of AI data center hardware to an undisclosed customer. The hardware includes custom-designed AI accelerators tailored for workloads specific to the client, as well as other gear from the company. It is widely rumored that the customer in OpenAI, which reportedly intends to use the AI processors for inference workloads, and the sheer scale of the order could amount to several million AI processors.  

Link here.

Broadcom has demonstrated that it is perhaps the world's largest processor. But for what application? When we visited TSMC's events, we were always shown a deck of multi-chiplet processors that use the company's chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) packaging technology and feature near the reticle limit (858mm^2, 26 mm by 33 mm) compute chiplets. We cannot take photos of the deck, but there are certainly processors that grab attention. One of those devices comes from Broadcom, and it has been shown at the company's recent investor events.

For most observers, Broadcom is a networking and telecommunications giant, but the company also has a significant custom chip design business. For those unfamiliar with this unit of Broadcom, Google is one of the company's most prominent clients in terms of contract chip design.

However, just like TSMC, Broadcom does not announce its clients. For those who want to rekindle its short-term innovations, Broadcom has a list of them in its recent press release. What it does to impress is demonstrate its vast accomplishments to its investors. These are indeed vast, as observed by our friend and colleague Patrick Moorhead of Moor's strategies market analysis company.