What happened
Meta Platforms will begin mass production of its in-house AI chip, codenamed "Iris," as early as September, according to a Reuters report citing an internal company memo. "Iris" is the latest iteration of Meta's MTIA chip program, co-designed with Broadcom and manufactured by TSMC. This move is backed by a raised full-year capital expenditures guidance of $125 billion to $145 billion for AI infrastructure.
Why it matters
Meta's in-house chip production aims to reduce its reliance on external AI chip suppliers, shifting significant capital expenditure towards proprietary hardware. This strategic pivot, supported by a raised full-year capital expenditure guidance of $125 billion to $145 billion for AI infrastructure, impacts procurement teams and CTOs by diversifying the supply chain for critical AI compute. This follows similar moves by OpenAI, which unveiled its custom "Jalapeño" inference chip, and Anthropic, exploring custom silicon with Samsung, signalling a broader industry trend towards vertical integration in AI hardware.
