According to projections, MediaTek is expected to account for approximately 26% of global AI server computing ASIC shipments by 2028. It is important to note that current forecasts do not include potential wins from Meta's MTIA project. Actual shipment performance will also depend on advanced packaging capacity, including TSMC's CoWoS allocations and the yield readiness of Intel's EMIB-T technology on the Humufish platform.

At the recent Google Cloud Next event, Google introduced two new AI ASIC server chips: the TPU v8t for training and the TPU v8i for inference. As the eighth generation of Google's TPU chips, these products are optimized for scalability, efficiency, and reliability to handle growing inference-intensive workloads and support Mixture-of-Experts (MoE) architectures for the "Agentic AI" era.

A recent report highlights that the TPU v8t, codenamed Zebrafish, holds significant importance in Google’s AI chip strategy and marks a key shift in its supply chain approach. This reflects a move away from reliance on Broadcom’s turnkey ASIC model toward a more diversified partnership strategy.

Regarding Google’s adoption of a new model where it designs the compute chip core and MediaTek supplies the I/O chip, the primary consideration involves HBM procurement costs. Under the Broadcom turnkey model, the ASIC supplier handles HBM purchasing and adds a 15–20% fee. As HBM represents an increasing portion of overall costs, this markup becomes substantial at scale, particularly as Google accelerates TPU deployment. By internalizing chip design and HBM procurement starting with Zebrafish, Google can reduce total costs.

With Zebrafish expected to enter mass production by late 2026 and Humufish ramping up in 2028, MediaTek’s related shipments are anticipated to grow accordingly. Combined shipments of TPU v8t and v8i are projected to reach nearly 5 million units by 2028, a significant increase from around 400,000 units in 2026, reflecting Google’s continued expansion of TPU deployment across internal and cloud customer applications.

In the TPU v8e (Humufish) product roadmap, MediaTek plans to adopt Intel’s EMIB-T packaging. The Humufish project is currently in the design-in and validation phase, with mass production expected by late 2027. Future progress will depend on yield rates for Intel Foundry Services’ advanced packaging and the readiness of key substrate suppliers, which may ultimately influence MediaTek’s shipment timeline.