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OpenAI Unveils Jalapeño, Its First Custom Inference Chip

Promising higher inference performance per watt, Jalapeño is set for partner deployment later this year.

Overview

  • OpenAI announced Jalapeño on June 24 as a purpose-built processor for running large language models and real-time inference requests.
  • The chip was designed from scratch in about nine months with Broadcom and Celestica and is already running production‑target workloads in OpenAI’s lab, including GPT‑5.3‑Codex‑Spark.
  • OpenAI says early tests show substantially better performance per watt than current technology, but independent benchmarks and large-scale production results are not yet public.
  • The move is intended to reduce OpenAI’s reliance on external GPU suppliers such as Nvidia and to anchor a planned multigenerational compute platform that will begin rolling out to Microsoft and other partners this year.
  • If Jalapeño delivers at scale, operators could see lower inference costs and more available capacity for services like ChatGPT, a shift that follows similar custom‑chip strategies at Google, Amazon and Meta.