The Triggerfish chip signals Google's broader push to diversify its custom silicon supply chain beyond Broadcom
Google is building a souped-up version of its next-generation tensor processing unit, and MediaTek just landed the exclusive contract to help make it happen.
The enhanced TPU v9 variant, internally codenamed Triggerfish, represents a significant upgrade over the base Humufish TPU v9 design. It features two to three times the SRAM capacity of its predecessor, integrates HBM4E memory, and adds a new simulation die, all aimed at boosting AI agent inference and reinforcement learning workloads.
What Triggerfish brings to the table #
Think of SRAM as the chip’s short-term memory, the scratchpad it uses for immediate calculations. Doubling or tripling that capacity means the processor can handle larger, more complex AI models without constantly reaching out to slower memory pools. In English: faster inference, less bottleneck.
Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo confirmed on June 22, 2026, that MediaTek secured the exclusive contract for Triggerfish at a higher price point than the base Humufish design. The incremental order carries an approximately 30% increase in unit pricing. That’s a notable reversal from Google’s TPU v8 strategy, which targeted a 20-30% reduction in costs.
Production is scheduled to begin in late 2027, with volume expansion expected through 2028. Google is projecting shipments of 1-2 million Triggerfish units on top of the 4-5 million units already anticipated for the standard Humufish TPU v9.
Google’s four-supplier strategy #
Google is now spreading its TPU development across four major partners: Broadcom, MediaTek, Marvell, and Intel. Each supplier is being assigned specialized roles across training and inference tasks, manufactured on advanced TSMC process nodes.
MediaTek already contributes to Google’s TPU v8 inference models, so Triggerfish isn’t a cold start. It’s an escalation. The Taiwanese chipmaker is moving from a supporting player to a critical node in Google’s AI infrastructure supply chain.
MediaTek is projected to account for approximately 25% of all AI ASIC server compute shipments by 2028.
What this means for investors #
The Triggerfish deal reshapes how investors should think about both MediaTek and the broader AI semiconductor market.
For MediaTek specifically, the 30% unit price premium on Triggerfish compared to base Humufish suggests healthy margins on these orders. If MediaTek captures a quarter of all AI ASIC server compute shipments by 2028, it fundamentally changes the company’s revenue mix and valuation narrative.
For Broadcom, the implications are more complicated. Broadcom has long been the dominant force in custom AI silicon for hyperscalers, with Google as a flagship customer. A four-supplier model doesn’t eliminate Broadcom’s role, but it does dilute its leverage.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our