Startup Lightmatter Reaches $4.4 Billion Valuation
Lightmatter Inc., a startup making computing products that use light in place of electricity, has raised a new round of funding that almost quadrupled its valuation to $4.4 billion.
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@Ph0t0nic Computing Startup Lightmatter Reaches $4.4 Billion Valuation, as the company's main is building new AI software.#ai #startup #innovation https://t.co/wkR8Rb7zZQ
— The_Journalbiz (@the_journalbiz) October 16, 2024
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Investors put $400 million into the company, which aims to make it faster to build new AI software.
The company, which aims to overhaul the market for artificial intelligence computing power using the still-early technology, said Wednesday that it brought in $400 million in a Series D financing, led by new investor T. Rowe Price Associates. Existing investors such as GV, formerly known as Google Ventures, also participated in the round, the company said.
Lightmatter builds novel ways for computer chips to communicate with each other and complete calculations. Its technology uses silicon photonics with waveguides, which are tiny structures that redirect light. Traditionally, chips use wires to do such things.
Lightmatter sees recent advancements in artificial intelligence as an advantage: Tech companies have strained the market for high-power chips that can keep up with the computing requirements necessary for tasks, including training large language models such as those that power OpenAI’s ChatGPT chatbot.
