EXCLUSIVE: Positron raises $230M Series B to take on Nvidia’s AI chips

Semiconductor startup Positron has secured $230 cardinal successful Series B funding, TechCrunch has exclusively learned. The semiconductor startup plans to usage the superior to velocity up deployment of its high-speed representation chips, a captious constituent for the chips utilized for AI workloads, sources acquainted with the substance told TechCrunch. 

Investors successful the circular see Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), the country’s sovereign wealthiness fund, which has been progressively focused connected gathering retired AI infrastructure, the sources said.

The Reno-based startup’s Series B comes arsenic hyperscalers and AI firms propulsion to trim their reliance connected longstanding person Nvidia. These firms see OpenAI, which, contempt being 1 of Nvidia’s largest and astir important customers, is reportedly unsatisfied with immoderate of the firm’s latest AI chips and has been seeking alternatives since past year. 

Meanwhile, Qatar, done QIA, has been accelerating a broader propulsion into alleged “sovereign” AI infrastructure – a precedence repeatedly underscored astatine Web Summit Qatar successful Doha this week. Several sources told TechCrunch the state views compute capableness arsenic captious to staying competitory connected the planetary economical stage, and is positioning itself arsenic a starring AI services hub successful the Middle East, fueling involvement successful startups similar Positron.

The strategy is already taking signifier done large commitments, including a $20 cardinal AI infrastructure joint task with Brookfield Asset Management that was announced successful September.

Positron’s fundraise brings the three-year-old startup’s full superior raised to conscionable implicit $300 million. The startup antecedently raised $75 cardinal past twelvemonth from investors including Valor Equity Partners, Atreides Management, DFJ Growth, Flume Ventures and Resilience Reserve. 

The institution claims its first-generation spot Atlas, manufactured successful Arizona, tin lucifer the show of Nvidia’s H100 GPUs for little than a 3rd of the power. Positron is focused connected inference – computing needed to tally AI models for real-world applications – alternatively than grooming ample connection models, positioning the institution arsenic request surges for inference hardware arsenic businesses progressively displacement absorption from gathering ample models to deploying them astatine scale.

Sources archer TechCrunch that beyond its representation capabilities, Positron’s chips besides execute powerfully successful high-frequency and video-processing workloads.

TechCrunch has reached retired to Positron for much information.