January 20, 2026 /SemiMedia/ — Marvell Technology said it will acquire XConn Technologies for about $540 million, adding PCIe and CXL switching chips to its portfolio as data center designs evolve to support larger AI workloads. The deal is expected to close in early 2026.

Founded in 2020, XConn focuses on high-speed interconnect silicon and was among the first suppliers to deliver CXL 2.0 and PCIe Gen 5 switches, including designs that support both standards on a single chip. Such technology is becoming increasingly important as AI systems scale beyond single-rack deployments.

As AI training and inference expand, data centers are moving toward multi-rack and disaggregated architectures. This shift is driving demand for high-bandwidth, low-latency connections that can link large numbers of accelerators and memory resources efficiently, making PCIe and CXL central to next-generation platforms.

Marvell said the acquisition will also bring XConn’s engineering team into the company, including specialists involved in open interconnect efforts such as UALink, an emerging standard aimed at enabling efficient communication across multiple accelerators.

XConn’s PCIe Gen 5 and CXL 2.0 switches are already in production, while PCIe Gen 6 and CXL 3.1 products remain in testing. Marvell expects the business to begin contributing revenue in the second half of its 2027 fiscal year, with annual sales targeted at around $100 million by fiscal 2028.