Why Would Nvidia Invest $2 Billion in a Company Helping Build an Alternative to NVLink?

Imagine AT&T joined a coalition building an alternative to Verizon 's network. Then Verizon invested $2 billion in AT&T. After that, Verizon asked AT&T to make its devices and network infrastructure compatible with Verizon's network, too.

That sounds strange. Why invest in a company helping build an alternative to your own network? A version of that relationship is now taking shape in artificial intelligence.

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Marvell Technology (NASDAQ: MRVL) supports UALink, an open interconnect standard designed to give AI chipmakers an alternative to Nvidia 's (NASDAQ: NVDA) proprietary NVLink fabric. Marvell has developed technology that can help customers build custom accelerators, switches, and scale-up networks around the standard.

Then, in March 2026, Nvidia invested $2 billion in Marvell. The companies also announced a strategic partnership covering custom AI chips, NVLink Fusion-compatible networking, optical interconnects, and silicon photonics.

Marvell was helping customers build for an alternative network. Now Nvidia is investing to make sure Marvell can build for its network, too. So has Marvell abandoned UALink? There is no public indication that it has.

The more interesting possibility is that Marvell is becoming valuable because it can build for both sides.

Nvidia built its position in AI around a tightly integrated platform. Its GPUs perform the computing. NVLink connects those GPUs inside large systems. Nvidia's networking equipment moves data across racks and data centers. Its software helps customers operate the entire architecture. Each layer makes the others more valuable.

But hyperscalers want more control. Companies such as Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL) Meta (NASDAQ: META), and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) are developing custom chips for workloads where a specialized processor may cost less, consume less power, or perform a specific task more efficiently than a standard GPU.

Nvidia could treat every custom accelerator as a threat. Instead, NVLink Fusion gives the company another way to participate. The technology allows custom CPUs and accelerators to connect to Nvidia's NVLink fabric and rack-scale architecture. Nvidia may not manufacture every processor in the system, but it can still provide the network that allows those processors to work together.

That is the bargain. Nvidia gives customers more freedom at the computing layer. In return, it gets another chance to keep NVLink at the center of the system.

Put more simply: Nvidia may be willing to give up some compute share if NVLink remains the fabric connecting the system.

This strategy makes Marvell unusually useful. Marvell helps hyperscalers design custom silicon. It also develops the technologies needed to connect that silicon, including high-speed electrical interfaces, switches, copper connectivity, optical signal processors, and silicon photonics.

Marvell's advantage is not any single component. It can help design the processor, choose the fabric, and connect the finished system.

Customers can now take at least two paths. One path uses UALink, an open scale-up interconnect supported by a coalition seeking an alternative to Nvidia's proprietary fabric. The other connects custom chips to Nvidia's ecosystem through NVLink Fusion.

Supporting Nvidia does not require Marvell to stop supporting UALink. Its business is helping customers build the architecture they choose.

One hyperscaler may prefer UALink for greater openness and supplier flexibility. Another may choose NVLink because Nvidia already has a mature software, networking, and rack-scale ecosystem. A large customer could use both for different workloads.