While Nvidia dominates the AI chip landscape, a wave of ambitious startups is working on next-gen processors to challenge its grip—especially in data centers and at the edge. These startups are exploring a wide range of technologies, spanning advanced optical systems and purpose-built edge AI chips, to drive the next era of AI computing.
Celestial AI
Based in Santa Clara, Celestial AI is reinventing how data moves inside AI systems with its Photonic Fabric, an optical interconnect that promises to crush bandwidth and latency limits. The company raised $175 million in a hotly pursued Series C round with backing from AMD, Samsung, and Porsche SE. Already seeing interest from major hyperscalers, Celestial AI bolstered its edge by acquiring key IP from Rockley Photonics, making it a major force in silicon photonics for AI infrastructure.
SiMa.ai
SiMa.ai, based in San Jose, delivers a software first machine learning system-on-chip (MLSoC) platform designed specifically for edge AI. Its Modalix chip family supports everything from computer vision to large multimodal models—all with 10x performance-per-watt improvements over existing solutions. With $270 million in total funding and recent partnerships with Lanner, Arrow, Supermicro, and Cvedia, SiMa.ai has positioned itself as the go-to solution for efficient, scalable AI at the edge.
Enfabrica
Enfabrica, headquartered in Mountain View, is building ultra-fast connectivity solutions tailored for AI workloads. Its flagship chip, the Accelerated Compute Fabric SuperNIC, supports massive throughput—up to 3.2 TB/s—along with robust Ethernet and PCIe capabilities. With a fresh $115 million Series C fundraise, Enfabrica is gearing up to roll out its game-changing silicon to high-performance GPU clusters in data centers.
Hailo
Tel Aviv-based Hailo is building low-power AI chips optimized for GenAI workloads in devices like PCs and smart vehicles. Its latest Hailo-10 chip pushes high-performance AI processing with minimal power draw. With $120 million raised and tie-ups with Raspberry Pi, Adlink, and SolidRun, Hailo is fast becoming a key player in cost-effective AI acceleration at the edge.
Groq
Groq, another Mountain View startup, is focused on AI inference at blazing speeds. Its unique language processing unit (LPU) powers both cloud-based and on-premise AI deployments. With $640 million secured in Series D funding and a $2.8 billion valuation, Groq is scaling fast. The company has signed strategic deals with Carahsoft and Aramco to bring its compute power to the public sector and massive data centers across the Middle East.
