Etched's growth comes at a time when all chipmakers, especially Nvidia, are experiencing a boom due to AI, despite concerns about AI's high energy consumption. The company aims to offer a more cost-effective and energy-efficient option that works faster. However, the Sohu chip's reliance on one type of AI algorithm, transformers, is a risk as its usefulness would diminish if another type of algorithm replaces transformers. Despite this, Etched has reported "tens of millions of dollars" in preorders of its chip servers.
Key takeaways:
- AI chip startup Etched has raised $120 million in a funding round led by Primary Venture Partners and Positive Sum Ventures, with participation from prominent angel investors.
- The company is betting on its Sohu AI chip to power transformers, a type of large language model, and is partnering with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.’s Emerging Businesses Group for production.
- The new funding will be used for chip production, and the company has already received 'tens of millions of dollars' in preorders of its chip servers.
- Etched's CEO Gavin Uberti stated that if transformers go away, so does the company, but if they're right, Etched will become one of the biggest companies of all time.