- Meta exploring Rivos acquisition to speed up AI chip growth and scale back Nvidia reliance
- Meta executives reportedly pissed off with gradual inside chip progress
- Chip acquisitions might be essential for scaling AI coaching and inference and Rivos has RISC-V experience
Meta is reportedly trying to purchase chip startup Rivos in a deal aimed toward strengthening its in-house semiconductor program and giving the corporate extra management over its AI infrastructure and higher independence from Nvidia.
Though Meta already has its personal chip undertaking, Meta Coaching and Inference Accelerator (MTIA), like all hyperscalers it nonetheless spends closely on GPUs from Nvidia – a dependence which has grow to be pricey as the corporate scales up its AI ambitions.
Reporting on the deal, Bloomberg says the phrases of the acquisition haven’t been made public, however in April 2024, Rivos raised $250M in Sequence A.3 funding to gas its international development, and any sale worth is anticipated to be within the excessive 9 to 10 determine vary.
Apple lawsuit
Bloomberg says some Meta executives have been dissatisfied with the gradual tempo of inside chip work, main its management to discover methods to hurry up progress, together with exterior acquisitions.
In 2024, the corporate tried to purchase Korean chip startup FuriosaAI for $800 million, roughly $300 million over the startup’s estimated market worth, however in the end failed due to a disagreement with the deliberate course post-acquisition.
Not so way back Meta was all-in on the Metaverse (to the purpose of even altering the corporate’s identify) however now Chief govt Mark Zuckerberg says AI is the corporate’s high precedence, with spending commitments reaching tens of billions of {dollars} on infrastructure and expertise.
If the Rivos deal goes via, Meta will profit from a crew able to constructing high-profile RISC-V chips, which might be tailor-made for its AI workloads.
Though Rivos looks like a great match for Meta, the startup has confronted some controversy prior to now.
In 2022, Apple accused the corporate of stealing commerce secrets and techniques by way of former staff, a dispute that was resolved final 12 months after counterclaims had been filed.
Meta’s acquisition talks present the social media’s large’s willpower to convey extra of its AI provide chain beneath its personal roof, however whether or not the deal goes via or not stays to be seen.
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