American tech giant Google is reportedly working on its own CPUs for future laptops and tablets that run on the Chrome operating system (OS).
The company stated that the CPUs are expected to be available in 2023. This comes after Google confirmed that it will be using its own SoC called Tensor for its Pixel lineup starting this year with the Pixel 6 series.
The company now intends to follow the same technique with its other hardware products. Google’s own SoCs are expected to be used in upcoming Chrome OS devices.
The tech behemoth is stepping up its efforts to develop its own chips, following in the footsteps of global competitors such as Apple, which is adopting a similar strategy and moving away from Intel CPUs in its MacBook devices. Apple has been using its own processors for its iPhone lineup for over a decade now.
Furthermore, other companies like Amazon, Facebook, Microsoft, Tesla, Baidu, and Alibaba are all working on developing their own semiconductors to power their cloud services and electronic products.
According to the reports, Google’s new processors are based on the chip blueprints of ARM, a UK-based company whose intellectual property is used in over 90 percent of smartphones. Google sees in-house chip development as critical to its competitiveness.
Further, Google has asked for a 50 percent increase in handset production capacity from suppliers compared to pre-pandemic levels in 2019. “The Tensor SoC for Pixel phones was unveiled a while ago, and the tech giant is currently employing key talent from the chip industry to build its own silicon TPUs (tensor processing units),” as per the reports.
