TechCrunch AI's report highlights a critical, second-order shift in the AI hardware landscape. Nvidia seems to be acknowledging it cannot stop the hyperscalers from pursuing custom silicon, so its strategy is pivoting to enveloping those efforts. By making its NVLink ecosystem the standard interconnect, Nvidia may be trying to become the indispensable 'glue' that holds diverse AI chips together, ensuring its platform tax remains in place. The real test will be whether cloud providers accept this role or seek to own the entire stack, interconnect included, to avoid any future dependency.