MediaTek Inc (聯發科), the largest chip designer in Taiwan, yesterday denied a local media report that the company was partnering with Google to develop an artificial intelligence (AI) server chip and had received large orders from the US tech giant.
The company said in a regulatory filing that the report by the Chinese-language Economic Daily News was false and had been published on the basis of speculative information that had not been verified.
MediaTek said a false report such as the one in question could have an adverse effect on the company and investors, adding that it would resort to legal means to protect its interests if necessary.
Photo: AP
The report also said that MediaTek would collaborate with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC,台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, to produce the AI server chips using its advanced 5-nanometer processes.
Citing industrial sources, the report said that as part of the partnership with Google, MediaTek would provide serializer/deserializer solutions to Google, which would help the US company enhance its tensor processing unit efforts to make the newest chips used in AI servers.
MediaTek is collaborating with other firms in AI development.
On May 30, it announced that it had partnered with California-based Nvidia Corp to develop technology for in-vehicle infotainment systems, with MediaTek CEO Rick Tsai (蔡力行) telling a news conference that the company would launch the automobile-related products in 2025.
By tapping into Nvidia’s core expertise in AI, the cloud, graphics technology and the software ecosystem, along with its advanced driver assistance systems, MediaTek would bolster the capabilities of its Dimensity Auto platform, the company has said.
Amid global inventory adjustments, MediaTek posted NT$16.87 billion (US$547.8 million) in net profit in the first quarter of this year, the lowest figure in nine quarters and down 8.7 percent from a year earlier, with earnings per share plummeting to NT$10.64 from NT$21.02.
The company’s consolidated sales last month decreased 39.38 percent to NT$31.57 billion from a year earlier, but the figure was up 11.35 percent from a month earlier.
During the April-to-May period, MediaTek’s aggregate consolidated sales stood at NT$59.92 billion.
Analysts have said the company needs to generate at least another NT$31.88 billion to reach its second-quarter target of NT$91.8 billion to NT$99.5 billion, which it announced at an investors’ conference in April.
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