Broadcom Unveils 50G PON Edge AI Chip With Integrated NPU, Moves Early on Wi-Fi 8

50G PON is a next-generation architecture designed to bring symmetric 50Gbps speeds to fiber access networks, while Wi-Fi 8 focuses on ultra-high reliability and consistently low latency. Since launching its first Wi-Fi 8 wireless chips in October 2025, Broadcom has continued to bring NPUs into home gateways, enabling AI inference to run locally to reduce cloud round-trip latency and improve privacy.

On May 26, 2026, Broadcom unveiled the BCM68850, which it described as the industry’s first 50G ITU-PON home gateway SoC with an integrated NPU and native Wi-Fi 8 support. It delivers symmetric 50Gbps connectivity and works with the BCM68660 OLT and BCM55050 ONT. On June 1, the company also showcased several Wi-Fi 8 SoCs and a 5G FWA platform developed with Samsung. It did not disclose pricing or order values.