Meta may spend billions to acquire promising AI accelerator startup to loosen reliance on Nvidia by supercharging its own MTIA AI chip - but what will Jensen say? (www.techradar.com)

Meta is reportedly in talks to buy AI-chip startup Rivos as a fast track to boost its in-house Meta Training and Inference Accelerator (MTIA) program and reduce growing dependence on Nvidia GPUs. The deal—expected in the high nine to ten-figure range after Rivos raised $250M in April 2024—would give Meta a team experienced in RISC-V silicon design and custom accelerator development, potentially speeding MTIA timelines that executives reportedly view as moving too slowly. For the AI community this signals another major hyperscaler doubling down on vertically integrated hardware-software stacks: RISC-V-based chips tailored to Meta’s training and inference workloads could lower per-unit GPU spend, improve datacenter efficiency, and allow tighter co-design of compilers, runtimes and models outside the Nvidia/CUDA ecosystem. Risks include integration complexity, past legal controversies around Rivos (an Apple trade-secrets dispute later resolved), and the challenge of matching Nvidia’s performance and software tooling. If successful, the acquisition would accelerate a broader industry shift toward custom accelerators and supply-chain control — and add pressure on Nvidia to defend its dominant position.