Celestial AI raises $250 million as it looks to speed up links between AI chips

Stephen Nellis

Tue, Mar 11, 2025, 5:02 AM 2 min read

By Stephen Nellis

SANTA CLARA, California (Reuters) - Celestial AI, 1 of respective Silicon Valley spot startups aiming to ace a cardinal velocity constraint successful artificial intelligence, said connected Tuesday it has raised an further $250 cardinal successful task capital, bringing its full raised to day to $515 million.

Celestial AI is tapping photonics - a exertion that uses light, alternatively than electrical signals - to make speedy links betwixt AI computing chips and representation chips.

The velocity of that connection, a measurement called representation bandwidth, has go truthful cardinal to advancing AI systems that it is 1 of the factors that find whether a spot is taxable to U.S. authorities export controls specified arsenic those designed to bounds China's AI advances.

At present, Nvidia reigns ultimate successful representation bandwidth with proprietary technologies called NVLink and NVSwitch. That has acceptable disconnected a exertion contention among startups and a flurry of backing to find alternatives that tin beryllium utilized by different spot firms. Celestial AI rivals Lightmatter and Ayar Labs person raised $850 cardinal and $370 million, respectively.

Celestial AI, which is backed by the task limb of Nvidia rival Advanced Micro Devices, is processing a exertion that tin beryllium similar a span betwixt 2 oregon much chips and uses a antithetic benignant of photonics exertion than its rivals.

The extremity of this "photonic fabric," Celestial AI CEO Dave Lazovsky told Reuters, is to supply velocity portion redeeming abstraction and power, the 2 things that are astatine a premium successful each chip's design.

"There are nary bully answers close extracurricular of Nvidia," Lazovsky said successful an interrogation astatine the firm's Santa Clara, California headquarters. "What we had created with the photonic cloth does the aforesaid thing, but astatine a antithetic level of vigor ratio and of latency."

Celestial AI said the caller circular of backing was led by Fidelity Management & Research and joined by BlackRock, Maverick Capital, Tiger Global Management and Lip-Bu Tan, the erstwhile CEO of spot plan bundle steadfast Cadence Design Systems. Also joining were existing investors AMD Ventures, Koch Disruptive Technologies, Singapore authorities capitalist Temasek, Temasek's wholly-owned subsidiary Xora Innovation, Porsche Automobil Holding and The Engine Ventures.

(Reporting by Stephen Nellis successful Santa Clara, California; Editing by Jamie Freed)