Broadcom is pushing VMware further into the artificial intelligence arena, announcing that VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) is now “AI native” at the recent VMware Explore conference. The move positions VMware alongside other tech giants racing to integrate large language models (LLMs) into enterprise infrastructure, but it comes at a time when the company is grappling with customer unease over licensing changes and ongoing legal disputes.
Since Broadcom’s acquisition of VMware in November 2023, the company has faced criticism for ending VCF’s free tier, adopting tougher sales tactics, and facing lawsuits over existing perpetual licenses. These shifts have prompted some organizations to migrate to rival platforms such as Nutanix, SUSE, and IBM. Still, many enterprises remain tied to VMware due to the complexity and cost of moving workloads away from highly virtualized environments.
Maria Korolov
AI as a Core VMware Offering
Broadcom’s AI roadmap focuses on helping enterprises deploy models and agents within existing VMware environments rather than requiring a wholesale overhaul. Starting next year, VMware Private AI Services will be bundled with VCF 9 subscriptions. The package will include tools for building and running AI workloads on-premises or outside of hyperscale cloud providers, such as:
- A curated model store, expected to feature smaller and open-source models.
- Indexing and vector database services.
- An AI agent builder and integrated API gateway for cross-model communication.
Executives at the event emphasized that AI adoption in the enterprise is accelerating, making its integration into VMware infrastructure a natural progression. Still, analysts note that Broadcom’s offering is incremental rather than groundbreaking.
Incremental Upgrades Beyond AI
The company also unveiled enhancements to the VMware Tanzu Platform, including easier publishing of MCP servers and the introduction of Tanzu Data Intelligence, a new data lakehouse solution. In addition, VMware is rolling out Intelligent Assist for VCF, a knowledgebase-powered chatbot designed to extend support resources before customers reach human assistance.
Legacy Systems Keep VMware in Play
The broader question is whether these updates will be enough to restore customer confidence. Despite complaints over licensing costs, VMware continues to benefit from the sheer weight of legacy infrastructure across enterprises. Much like predictions that containers or cloud databases would replace traditional virtualization and on-premise systems, the reality has proven more gradual. For many organizations, sticking with VMware—despite frustrations—remains less risky than embarking on complex migrations.
