OpenAI just shared its plans to spice things up with Jalapeño, its custom inference chip built with Broadcom, joining Google, Apple, and SpaceX in a growing list of companies building their way out of single-supplier risk. The goal is less of a clean break and more of a hedge. Custom silicon means more control, hardware tuned to specific needs, and the kind of performance gains Apple unlocked when it ditched Intel.
On this episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, hosts Kirsten Korosec, Anthony Ha, and Sean O’Kane dig into what the custom chip trend means for the industry and a few deals of the week.
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Chapters:
00:00 Intro
01:28 OpenAI’s Jalapeno chip and the race for custom silicon
07:33 Memory chip crunch and rising costs for consumers
09:12 Nvidia, Grok, and the neocloud pivot
13:18 What’s the point of data centers in space?
18:25 AI agent loops: hype or next big thing?
27:56 Agility Robotics goes public via SPAC
32:49 A24 takes Google DeepMind investment
35:47 Outro
