Cambricon Technologies, co-founded by brothers Chen Yunyi and Chen Tianshi from the Institute of Computing Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (ICT-CAS), recently announced the completion of a $100 million Series A round of financing. The investors include SDIC Ventures (led the round), Alibaba Ventures, Lenovo Capital, National Science Investment, Zhongke Turing, YuanYu Origin (Angel Wheel Collar Investment), and Yongxun Investment. This funding has propelled the company's valuation to reach $1 billion.
China is actively developing artificial intelligence chips to close the gap with global tech leaders. Named after the "Cambrian Period," a geological era over 600 million years ago known for a rapid diversification of life forms, this era symbolizes the imminent explosion of artificial intelligence. The company's first AI processor, developed by Chen Yunji and Chen Tianshi, marks a significant milestone in the AI industry.
Last year, Cambricon released its 1A chip, the world's first commercial "deep learning" neural network processor for smartphones, security cameras, drones, wearables, and intelligent vehicles. Compared to traditional processors, it offers superior performance-to-power ratios when running mainstream AI algorithms.
Chen Tianshi, CEO of Cambricon, emphasized the limitations of existing processors like CPUs and GPUs in handling complex deep learning tasks. He stated that as neural networks grow in complexity, these general-purpose processors fall short. Therefore, specialized AI chips like Cambricon are essential to meet future demands.
In contrast to general-purpose chips, which resemble "Swiss Army Knives," offering versatility but inefficiency, Cambricon's processors are akin to "kitchen knives"—efficient and tailored for specific tasks. Chen Yunji, the chief scientist of Cambricon, highlighted that the 1A chip enhances computational efficiency in AI systems by two orders of magnitude and ensures data privacy by enabling offline processing.
Currently, Cambricon's terminal processor IPs, including 1A and 1H models, are being commercialized. With this Series A funding, the company plans to accelerate the deployment of its processors in both terminal and cloud environments. Their aim is to make various devices smarter while providing powerful yet energy-efficient cloud-based solutions.
Commercializing these chips involves two major fronts: terminals and clouds. On the terminal side, products like smartphones, smart glasses, and fitness trackers require chips capable of recognizing images, videos, and texts. Cloud clients, including major players like HKUST and Shuguang, are already utilizing Cambricon's solutions.
Despite the promising progress, opinions within the industry vary regarding how close China is to leading the global AI chip market. Some experts note that while the Cambrian project benefits from strong institutional backing, others caution against overestimating its current capabilities compared to established players like Nvidia. Nvidia's GPUs, with their programmable nature and adaptability, remain unmatched in flexibility and scalability.
Nonetheless, the potential of AI chips is immense. Tractica predicts that by 2025, the market for AI-related deep learning chipsets will grow from $500 million to $12.2 billion, reflecting a compound annual growth rate exceeding 40%.
As Chen Yunxi aptly put it, "The smart age is approaching, and each era has its defining technological breakthroughs." Whether Cambricon can become the "core material carrier" of this new age remains to be seen, but its ambitions and achievements thus far are undeniably impressive.
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Xuzhou Jiuli Electronics Co., Ltd , https://www.xzjiulielectronic.com