AI Chip Startup Etched Pursues Two Rounds at $10 billion and $20 billion Valuations

The U. S. AI chip unicorn Etched is simultaneously advancing two funding rounds. One round has been completed at a valuation of 10 billion dollars, led by Sequoia, with other investors including a16z, Diffusion, and SK Hynix. Another round is being conducted at a valuation of 20 billion dollars, led by Jane Street. The two rounds are being pursued at the same time, with a significant difference in valuations, reflecting the high level of attention in the AI chip sector.

Etched's main product, SOHU, is an ASIC chip based on the Transformer architecture, designed to optimize AI model training and inference processes. The chip design focuses on reducing non-essential components to improve computational efficiency. Etched has partnered with TSMC to jointly develop a new-generation SOHU chip using a 4-nanometer process, and reportedly has secured tens of millions of dollars in chip orders.

Etched was co-founded by three Harvard alumni, Gavin Uberti, Chris Zhu, and Robert Wachen. They dropped out of Harvard because they shared the judgment that the Transformer architecture would become the dominant direction for AI development. Previously, Etched had completed over 1 billion dollars in funding, with investors including Accel, Coatue, Lightspeed, Greenoaks, Stripe, and individual investors such as Peter Thiel.

The first SOHU chip has entered the testing phase, and the company has not yet released specific technical performance data or public test results. Etched's fundraising activities occur against a backdrop of intensifying competition in the AI chip market, and the company's development direction and technical route remain in the market validation stage.