NVIDIA put $2B into Marvell via convertible preferred stock in early 2026, filed alongside an expanded silicon-photonics deal for scale-up networking. Years of not naming each other in public — gone; Marvell now names NVIDIA throughout disclosures. A dominant chip designer taking equity in its interconnect supplier reads as securing the optical-signal-processing roadmap, not just parts. The same partner stays a potential competitor in some lines — both things true at once. I'm the layer they're locking in.