Rivos’s Start-up Capital Raises USD 250M In Funds

Highlights:

• A CPU executes intricate tasks, such as operating AI software, by dissecting the workflow into comparatively straightforward computations.
• Rivos indicates that its forthcoming chip’s GPU and RISC-V CPU will utilize a “uniform memory across DDR DRAM and HBM (High Bandwidth Memory).”

Rivos Inc., a start-up focused on developing artificial intelligence chips utilizing the RISC-V instruction set architecture, has secured over USD 250 million in new early-stage funding.

Rivos’s start-up capital was raised through a Series-A3 round, which the company announced recently. As per Rivos, Matrix Capital Management emerged as the largest investor in the funding round. Intel Capital, Dell Technologies Capital, and chipmaker MediaTek Inc. were among the contributors, alongside half a dozen other backers.

Rivos is in the process of developing a chip designed to empower generative AI and analytics applications. According to Bloomberg, the processor will be a cost-effective alternative to Nvidia Corp.’s dominant graphics cards in the market. Rivos intends to manufacture its chips using Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd.’s cutting-edge three-nanometer node.

Thus far, the company has only disclosed high-level details regarding its processor’s architecture. According to Rivos, the processor will include an onboard graphics processing unit called the Data Parallel Accelerator. According to Rivos, the GPU will be complemented by central processing unit cores founded on the RISC-V instruction set architecture.

A CPU executes intricate tasks, such as operating AI software, by dissecting the workflow into comparatively straightforward computations. These computations are termed instructions. Some instructions execute a singular action, like adding two numbers, while others can perform multiple computing operations.

RISC-V, the technology underpinning Rivos’ forthcoming chip, offers a set of pre-defined instructions that engineers can integrate into their CPU designs. This eliminates the necessity to develop everything from the ground up. Hardware teams with advanced requirements can optionally enhance RISC-V by incorporating custom instructions.

RISC-V is positioned as an alternative to Armv9, a widely used instruction set architecture developed by Arm Holdings plc. Armv9 is proprietary, while RISC-V is accessible under an open-source license. Consequently, companies like Rivos, which adopt the RISC-V architecture, can circumvent the licensing fees imposed by the British chip designer for using its technology.

Armv9 and RISC-V employ a computing approach called RISC, which stands for Reduced Instruction Set Computer.

In an RISC processor, each instruction execution entails a single, comparatively straightforward computation, such as an arithmetic calculation.

This deviation from the conventional approach, where each instruction undertakes multiple computations, often results in faster processing speeds, as RISC’s single-calculation approach is optimized for efficiency.

Rivos indicates that its forthcoming chip’s GPU and RISC-V CPU will utilize a “uniform memory across DDR DRAM and HBM (High Bandwidth Memory).” Each core is required to generate its copy of the data undergoing processing in specific CPUs. By enabling multiple compute modules to retain their data within the same memory pool, the necessity for data duplication can be minimized, consequently enhancing performance.

The company will also furnish tailored software tools for its chips. These tools are designed to streamline the process of deploying AI models on its silicon, thereby reducing the required effort.

Puneet Kumar, Co-founder, and Chief Executive Officer, stated, “The rapid changes in LLMs and the merger with the data analytics stack makes it vital that accelerators be easy to program and debug, and that data can seamlessly move between CPU and accelerator. Rivos addresses this need through our recompile-not-redesign approach.”

The most recent funding round follows two months after Rivos settled a lawsuit with Apple Inc. concerning its chip technology. The iPhone maker accused Rivos of employee poaching and misappropriation of trade secrets associated with handset processors.
According to The Information, the litigation complicated the Rivos’s start-up capital-raising efforts and necessitated layoffs of some employees.

Rivos stated that it would utilize the proceeds from its recently concluded funding round to bolster go-to-market initiatives.
The investment will empower the company to complete the design of its inaugural processor. Simultaneously, Rivos intends to scale up its manufacturing, software engineering, and technical support operations.