A new chip startup called Oxmiq has raised $35 million to develop technology aimed at lowering the cost of artificial intelligence, according to Reuters.
The company was founded by a former chief architect at Intel, as reported by qz.com. Rather than manufacturing its own silicon, Oxmiq plans to license its AI chip architecture to other companies — a business model in which a firm designs the underlying blueprint for a chip and charges others to build products based on it.
The stated goal is to make AI chips cheaper. Finimize frames the raise as an effort to "make AI chip design cheaper," while Reuters describes the architecture as a way to "lower the cost of AI." Electronics For You Business similarly reports the $35 million is going toward building AI chip technology.
The sources available here agree on the headline figures — a $35 million raise and a licensing-focused approach — but do not specify additional details such as who led the funding round, the names of investors, or a timeline for when Oxmiq's technology will reach customers.
Why it matters: The cost of the specialized chips that power AI has become one of the biggest bottlenecks in the industry, with a handful of suppliers dominating the market and driving up prices; a licensing model that promises cheaper designs could give more companies access to the hardware behind modern AI.