FILE PHOTO: AI letters are placed on computer motherboard in this illustration taken, June 23, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
Nvidia dominates the market for server AI chips, capturing roughly 80 per cent of sales, according to estimates. Nvidia’s general-purpose AI chips are capable of handling a range of computing applications, but can use more energy than processors designed to perform specific functions. Nvidia is the largest U.S. company by market value.
Engineers at Etched are designing the chip to power the portion of AI computing that generates content and responses, called inference. The chip, which is the first designed by the company, would be optimized to run a specific form of AI model known as a transformer. Etched has partnered with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. to fabricate the chips. Uberti said the company needs the series-A funding to defray the costs of sending its designs to TSMC and manufacturing the chips, a process known as"taping out" a chip.