AI chip startup taps two UK design teams

A US startup has emerged from stealth mode with a programmable AI chip architecture and software for artificial intelligence and machine learning. Blaize, formerly called Thinci, has backing from automotive companies such as Toyota and Denso, and currently has 325 staff around the world, including two design teams in the UK. The AI chip technology, called a Graph Streaming Processor (GSP), uses a multicore architecture controlled by a state machine. The flow of the machine learning data is determined in the compiler beforehand. This means the compiler and the software development kit (SDK) is a vital part of the development, and the company claims that the architecture can process data ten to a hundred times faster than other AI chips with lower power consumption. The company has developed prototype chips on a multiproject wafer that is being used with the software by fifteen early adopters around the world.