Nvidia AI chip competitor Etched says it has already booked $1 billion under contract for the inference systems powered by its chip.
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naddr1qv…ucmtNvidia competitor Etched has announced $1 billion in contract orders for its AI inference systems, which include custom chips, racks, and software designed for faster and more efficient AI inference. The startup also closed an unannounced $500 million funding round in December, bringing its total funding to $800 million and achieving a $5 billion post-money valuation. Despite early struggles to attract investors, Etched is now a notable player in the AI chip market, joining competitors and hyperscalers developing specialized hardware. - Etched, an Nvidia AI chip competitor, has secured $1 billion in contract orders for its inference systems. - The company's inference systems include custom chips, racks, and software. - Etched aims to make AI inference faster, cheaper, and more power-efficient. - The startup raised $800 million in total funding, with a recent $500 million round in December valuing it at $5 billion. - Notable investors include VentureTech Alliance, Jane Street, Hudson River Trading, Two Sigma, Ribbit Capital, Stripes, Stanley Druckenmiller, and Peter Thiel. - Angel investors include AI figures like Andrej Karpathy, Geoffrey Hinton, and Fei-Fei Li. - Etched co-founders Gavin Uberti and Robert Wachen dropped out of Harvard and became Thiel fellows. - The company faced early investor skepticism but now benefits from the AI boom. - The AI chip market is competitive, with companies like Cerebras and Groq also seeing significant investment and activity. Continue reading https://techcrunch.com/2026/06/30/nvidia-competitor-etched-hits-5b-valuation-1b-in-sales-for-ai-chip/