Toronto-based Untether AI, recently announced a $13 million USD Series A funding round led by Intel Capital, to help develop an AI computer chip. It was joined by other investors, none of which were identified.
Untether AI said its Kensington architecture, which moves data 1,000 times faster than traditional architectures, will “enable new frontiers in AI applications.”
Founded in 2018 by CEO Martin Snelgrove, CTO Darrick Wiebe and Raymond Chik, Untether AI has developed new chip architecture for neural net inference that eliminates data movement bottlenecks that cost energy and performance.
“We’re at a historic moment in computing right now. AI is changing the nature of what computers do. They can now interact with the real world based on recognizing patterns instead of following procedures,” said Martin Snelgrove, CEO of Untether AI. “These advances in AI have opened up tremendous possibilities for business and technological innovation, but traditional processors are not best suited to this new type of computing.”
Untether AI’s groundbreaking new chip architecture for neural net inference combines the power efficiency of near-memory design with the robustness of digital processing. And it reduces the distance data must travel to the absolute minimum. Untether AI’s Kensington architecture gets data to the processors at 2.5 petabits per second at a rate 1,000 times better than what is possible in traditional architectures. This eliminates the cost of using a bus to move data to processors — which traditionally dominates energy consumption. By improving inference efficiency, Untether AI enables larger scale use and broad artificial intelligence while consuming fewer resources and energy.
“The AI inference market is poised for disruption and explosive growth. Cloud AI inference has an efficiency problem; automotive AI chips are underpowered, and sophisticated AI at the edge will flatten batteries in no time. By introducing a completely scalable and ultra-efficient inference architecture, Untether AI is uniquely positioned to address each of those market segments with what will be by far the most energy-efficient AI accelerator.” – Darrick Wiebe, CTO of Untether AI.