AI chip startup Etched defies skeptics, hits $10.3B valuation from big-name investors
Etched, an AI chip startup founded by three Harvard dropouts in 2022, raised $300 million in a Series C round valued at $10.3 billion, led by Sequoia, and has doubled its valuation in seven months. The company has secured orders worth $1 billion and has developed its own chips, with full systems tested by clients. Etched claims its products can run any AI model, including Mixture of Experts models and non-transformer designs, and has introduced two new components to enhance inference speed and efficiency. Despite skepticism, the company has overcome challenges in raising capital and hiring, and operates a 2 megawatt data center with 400 employees.
More from Techcrunch
Microsoft kills off unsuccessful AI features while merging its separate Copilot apps
Microsoft is simplifying Copilot by combining its consumer and business apps, and dropping AI-generated podcasts, Group Chats, Deep Research, and its Mico character.
techcrunch.com··Mads Kristian Nylund·AI ToolsAI InfrastructureAI Governance
Nvidia’s new $500B plan is risky but brilliant, especially for aging GPUs
Nvidia has a plan to make sure its GPUs won't lose value. It wants to convince a new crop of financiers to keep lending for AI buildouts.
techcrunch.com··Mads Kristian Nylund·AI DevelopmentAI InfrastructureAI Governance
Apple in talks to pay publishers to provide Siri with current news: report
The tech giant has considered a nine-figure budget for the payments, according to the WSJ.
techcrunch.com··Mads Kristian Nylund·AI ToolsAI EthicsAI Platforms