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Google is redesigning its AI chip supply chain for the 10th-generation Tensor Processing Unit, codenamed Icefish. The Information reported on June 11 that Google is working with MediaTek on chip design — replacing Broadcom, which handled every previous TPU generation — and is in discussions with Samsung’s foundry division to manufacture the I/O dies. TSMC, Google’s exclusive TPU manufacturer through nine generations, would remain in the picture but no longer hold the full order.

Mass production of Icefish is expected to begin as early as 2028.

Broadcom Is Out of the Design Seat

Broadcom has co-designed Google’s TPUs from the first generation through TPU v9. That partnership is ending with Icefish. Google has selected MediaTek as the new design partner — a move that shifts the chip’s intellectual lineage from one semiconductor giant to another, and changes the leverage dynamic in Google’s component procurement.

The reason for the switch has not been disclosed publicly. Broadcom’s role in AI chip design has expanded significantly with its ASICs for Meta and Apple, increasing its negotiating position and potentially its pricing. MediaTek brings deep expertise in system-on-chip integration and manufacturing coordination with both TSMC and Samsung.

Samsung Enters the TPU Stack

Google has discussed having Samsung manufacture the I/O dies for Icefish. This would be the first time Samsung’s foundry has participated in Google’s TPU production.

I/O dies handle interconnects between processing tiles and memory — a high-precision packaging task. The technical requirement overlaps with Samsung’s known packaging capabilities, and Samsung has recently validated production for Nvidia on 4nm and 8nm processes. Samsung Electronics vice chairman Jun Young-hyun confirmed cooperation discussions with Nvidia after a June 8 meeting with Jensen Huang, separately from the Google engagement.

TSMC’s CoWoS advanced packaging technology remains the primary bottleneck for high-volume AI accelerator production. Adding Samsung as a second source for at least the I/O component reduces Google’s exposure to CoWoS capacity constraints.

Why the Change Matters Now

Google’s TPU volume requirements have grown substantially. External sales of TPU capacity to Anthropic — via a five-year, $200 billion cloud commitment and a separate $25B data center financing arrangement — require production at a scale that a single-vendor supply chain cannot reliably sustain.

Intel’s recent win for 3 million-plus Google TPU orders in 2028 was the first signal that Google was diversifying foundry relationships. The Icefish/Samsung development is a second, independent diversification — on the design side with MediaTek and on the packaging side with Samsung — for a different component layer.

Google has also separated the TPU product line into two architectures: TPU 8t for training and TPU 8i for inference. Icefish likely maps to the inference line, where volume requirements for external customers are highest.

The Supply Chain Reading

The full picture across Google’s chip program in 2026:

• Icefish (TPU gen 10): MediaTek design, Samsung I/O dies, TSMC compute dies
• TPU gen 9 production: Intel foundry for 3M+ units in 2028
• Memory: SK Hynix HBM4, sold out through 2027

Google is spreading its AI chip dependencies across four manufacturers — TSMC, Intel, Samsung, and (via memory) SK Hynix — while simultaneously moving design work from Broadcom to MediaTek. The result is a supply chain that looks more like a hyperscaler infrastructure play and less like a traditional chip program with one design house and one fab.

For Samsung, the Icefish engagement is strategically significant. Samsung Foundry has struggled to attract large-volume AI accelerator orders in competition with TSMC’s 3nm process advantage. Google’s I/O die work is a foothold into the most important AI chip program that doesn’t run through Nvidia.

Key Numbers

• 10: Generation number of Icefish TPU
• 9: Number of previous TPU generations Broadcom co-designed
• 2028: Expected mass production start for Icefish
• $200B: Anthropic’s five-year Google Cloud commitment that is driving TPU volume growth
• 3M+: Google TPU units contracted to Intel for 2028 (separate, earlier generation)
• 2: New supply chain partners introduced for Icefish — MediaTek (design) and Samsung (packaging)