Samsung, LG, Hyundai Motor Invest in AI Start-ups of 'NVIDIA Opponents'

Photo Source: Yonhap News

Samsung, LG Electronics, and Hyundai Motor Group have invested in Tenstorrent, a Canadian AI start-up considered a rival to Nvidia, the leader of artificial intelligence (AI) chips, Bloomberg News reported on the 2nd local time.

Samsung and LG Electronics have invested in the latest $700 million funding round led by South Korea's AFW Partners and Samsung Securities, Tenstorrent founder and CEO Jim Keller said in an interview.

Hyundai Motor Group is also known to have invested.

In addition to these Korean companies, Expedition, the investment company of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, the world's largest e-commerce company, and Fidelity, a U.S. financial company, participated.

Tenstorrent was valued at $2.6 billion (W3.656 trillion) in the funding.

Tenstorrent is a semiconductor design (fabless) startup founded in 2016 by Jim Keller, considered a "semiconductor legend," challenging Nvidia's stronghold in the AI chip market.

Samsung and LG Electronics have been collaborating with Tenstorrent so far, but this is the first time they have invested.

Hyundai Motor Group invested $50 million in Tenstorrent last year and seems to have added the investment this time.

Tenstorrent will use the funds it has raised to expand its engineering team and global supply chain.

With a growing push for performance improvements and cost-effectiveness in AI, TenStorent is one of the start-ups developing technology solutions to provide a more economical way out of Nvidia's power-consuming chips.