Artificial intelligence chips might be changing the future of drones and robotics. And Samsung is behind it.

‍What’s happening:‍

  • Artificial intelligence chip manufacturer Axelera has raised $68 million in a new Series B financing round
  • The round was led by Samsung Catalyst, which is the venture capital arm of semiconductor giant Samsung Electronics

The big idea:‍

  • Axelera has developed a leading edge artificial intelligence processing unit which is capable of being installed into edge devices such as drones and robotics
  • This allows hardware to run artificial intelligence models without being connected to the cloud whatsoever, which both enhances the speed of data processing and reduces overall energy consumption
  • Axelera has also designed a purpose built software known as Metis which powers their artificial intelligence chips to operate within edge devices

By the numbers:‍

  • Axelera has now raised $120M USD in venture capital funding

Going deeper:‍

  • Axelera has multiple notable backers, including the European Innovation Council Fund, Innovation Industries Strategic Partnership Fund, Invest-NL and others
  • Startups building artificial intelligence chips that are designed for edge devices have been seeing an uptick in funding lately, with Halio recently raising a mega round to accelerate the development of their chips which are purpose built for battery powered devices such as automotive vehicles

The intrigue:‍

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