Meta partners with MediaTek to develop a custom artificial intelligence chip named Arke as rising infrastructure expenses force the social media company to seek alternatives to expensive NVIDIA hardware. The collaboration leverages MediaTek's experience with 2nm manufacturing processes and previous work on Meta's smart glasses technology. Arke represents an unplanned addition to Meta's semiconductor roadmap, which originally featured the Iris chip for late 2025 production and the subsequent Olympus processor using advanced lithography.
The company faces artificial intelligence infrastructure costs between $114 billion and $119 billion this year, driving the decision to create cost-effective silicon solutions. MediaTek will begin 2nm chip development during the fourth quarter of 2025, positioning the partnership for efficient execution. Mass production of the Arke processor targets the first half of 2027, focusing on AI inference applications rather than training workloads.
The company faces artificial intelligence infrastructure costs between $114 billion and $119 billion this year, driving the decision to create cost-effective silicon solutions. MediaTek will begin 2nm chip development during the fourth quarter of 2025, positioning the partnership for efficient execution. Mass production of the Arke processor targets the first half of 2027, focusing on AI inference applications rather than training workloads.
