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Etched's $10.3B valuation hinges on a novel architecture claiming universal compatibility across transformer and non-transformer models without relying on traditional GPUs. The company has moved beyond theoretical design into manufacturing, securing significant orders while challenging the industry standard of specialized hardware for specific large language model families. Investors are betting that this flexibility could disrupt current inference bottlenecks by offering an alternative to GPU-centric stacks.

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AI chip startup Etched defies skeptics, hits $10.3B valuation from big-name investors

TechCrunchJuly 23, 20265 min read

Etched, founded by three Harvard dropouts, has created new chips and memory components that speed up inference on any AI model -- no GPUs required, it says.

Etched, the AI chip startup founded by three Harvard dropouts in 2022, has closed a $300 million Series C funding round at a $10.3 billion valuation, co-founder and COO Robert Wachen tells TechCrunch. The round was led by Sequoia, with Andreessen Horowitz, SK Hynix, Jane Street, and Diffusion Capital also participating, along with other, earlier investors. Other backers of the company include names like Peter Thiel, Andrej Karpathy, Dylan Field, Amjad Masad, and more. Etched was previously valued at $5 billion in December when it raised a $500 million round, meaning it…

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