SAN FRANCISCO - Artificial-intelligence startup Etched said on Tuesday it has raised $120 million in a series-A funding round that the company plans to use to further develop its specialized chip.
Nvidia dominates the market for server AI chips, capturing roughly 80% 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.Etched said backers in the funding round include former PayPal CEO Peter Thiel and Replit CEO Amjad Masad.
“This company is a little bit of a bet,” CEO Gavin Uberti said in an interview. “If transformers go away, our company will die. But if they stick around, we're going to be one of the biggest companies of all time.”