Unique: Positron raises $230M Sequence B to tackle Nvidia's AI chips

[ad_1] Semiconductor startup Positron has secured $230 million in Sequence B funding, TechCrunch has completely realized. The outfit plans to make use of the capital to hurry up deployment of its high-speed reminiscence chips, a crucial element for the chips used for AI workloads, sources aware of the matter informed TechCrunch.

Buyers within the spherical embody Qatar Funding Authority (QIA), the nation’s sovereign wealth fund, which has been more and more centered on constructing out AI infrastructure, the sources stated.

The Reno-based startup’s Sequence B comes as hyperscalers and AI companies push to scale back their reliance on longstanding chief Nvidia. These companies embody OpenAI, which, regardless of being one among Nvidia’s largest and most vital clients, is reportedly unhappy with a number of the agency’s newest AI chips and has been searching for alternate options since final yr.

In the meantime, Qatar, by way of QIA, has been accelerating a broader push into so-called “sovereign” AI infrastructure – a precedence repeatedly underscored at Internet Summit Qatar in Doha this week. A number of sources informed TechCrunch the nation views compute capability as crucial to staying aggressive on the worldwide financial stage, and is positioning itself as a number one AI companies hub within the Center East, fueling curiosity in startups like Positron.

The technique is already taking form by way of main commitments, together with a $20 billion AI infrastructure three way partnership with Brookfield Asset Administration that was introduced in September.

Positron’s fundraise brings the three-year-old startup’s complete capital raised to simply over $300 million. The startup beforehand raised $75 million final yr from buyers together with Valor Fairness Companions, Atreides Administration, DFJ Progress, Flume Ventures and Resilience Reserve.

The corporate claims its first-generation chip, Atlas, manufactured in Arizona, can match the efficiency of Nvidia’s H100 GPUs for lower than a 3rd of the ability. Positron is concentrated on inference – computing wanted to run AI fashions for real-world functions – slightly than coaching massive language fashions, positioning the corporate as demand surges for inference {hardware} as companies more and more shift focus from constructing massive fashions to deploying them at scale.

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Sources inform TechCrunch that past its reminiscence capabilities, Positron’s chips additionally carry out strongly in high-frequency and video-processing workloads.