Marvell in Talks to Aquire Celestial AI for $5B as Photonics Race Intensifies

Marvell TechnologyDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → is in advanced talks to acquire Celestial AI in a deal that could exceed $5 billion, according to multiple reports citing people familiar with the discussions.

The transaction would mark one of Marvell’s largest moves to date as it seeks to strengthen its position in high-performance datacenter silicon amid intensifying competition in AI infrastructure.

Celestial AI develops optical interconnect technology designed to accelerate data movement between compute and memory chips — a bottleneck that has become more pronounced as AI workloads scale.

The startup has raised more than $500 million to date, including a $250 million round in March backed by AMD's investment armDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →. Its board includes prominent industry figures such as Intel’s CEO Lip-Bu TanDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, reflecting broader interest in optical technologies across the semiconductor sector.

For Marvell, an acquisition would signal a deeper bet on custom silicon and interconnect technologies as the company looks to compete more directly with Broadcom and other suppliers of advanced datacenter hardware.

A purchase of Celestial AI would give Marvell access to a technology seen as critical to sustaining performance gains in large-scale AI clusters, where conventional electrical interconnects are approaching physical limits. The deal would add to a broader wave of consolidation in the sector as chipmakers and hyperscalers seek tighter control over the components underpinning AI acceleration.

Sources:
Reuters
The Information
Tech in Asia
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J.V.