OpenAI's first custom silicon, co-developed with Broadcom, is designed from scratch for large language model inference and is targeted for gigawatt-scale deployment by late 2026.
OpenAI and Broadcom have jointly announced “Jalapeño,” a custom accelerator chip built specifically for large language model (LLM) inference — the process of running a trained AI model to generate outputs. [1] The chip is described as OpenAI’s first “Intelligence Processor” and the first in a planned multi-generation hardware platform the two companies are developing together. [1]
Broadcom CEO Hock Tan and President Charlie Kawwas presented the first wafer to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and President Greg Brockman at the announcement. [1] For OpenAI, which has until now focused on model and product development rather than hardware, the announcement marks its first move into custom silicon. [1]
According to OpenAI, Jalapeño was not derived from a general-purpose chip but was designed from the ground up for modern LLM inference workloads. [1] The division of labor in the project has OpenAI leading chip design, Broadcom contributing silicon manufacturing and networking technology — including its Tomahawk networking chips — and Celestica handling boards, racks, and system integration. [1]
OpenAI says the chip’s architecture reduces data movement and pushes hardware utilization closer to its theoretical maximum. [1] Engineering samples are already running machine learning workloads in the lab, including the GPT-5.3-Codex-Spark model, which currently also runs on Cerebras hardware. [1] Early internal tests showed performance per watt that is “substantially better” than current state-of-the-art hardware, though OpenAI itself notes these figures have not been finalized. [1] The company says a technical report will follow, but at this stage the specific chips Jalapeño was benchmarked against, the tasks used, and the testing conditions have not been disclosed. [1]
OpenAI claims the design-to-tape-out process — the full cycle from initial design to a completed chip layout ready for manufacturing — took nine months, which the company describes as the fastest application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) development cycle for high-performance semiconductors it is aware of. [1] OpenAI also says its own AI models helped accelerate parts of the chip design process. [1] Reports of OpenAI’s custom chip ambitions had been circulating since 2023. [1]
Broadcom CEO Tan has said the first deployment is planned for late 2026 at gigawatt scale, in partnership with Microsoft and other unnamed partners. [1] Broadcom has reportedly required Microsoft to guarantee it will purchase 40 percent of the chips in order to secure the first phase of production. [1] OpenAI frames the broader effort as evidence that controlling the full stack — from chip to product — enables faster, more reliable, and lower-cost model serving. [1]
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