AsianScientist (Aug. 23, 2017) – Cambricon, an artificial intelligence (AI) chipmaker based in China, has raised US$100 million in series A funding led by SDIC Chuangye Investment Management, a subsidiary of China’s State Development and Investment Corporation.
The funding round attracted prominent investors such as e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, computer manufacturer Lenovo, robotics company Zhongke Tuling Century Beijing Technology and the investment arm of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). Just four months earlier in April 2017, Cambricon had received US$1.4 million from the CAS.
Debuting on the AI scene in 2016, Cambricon was founded by Professor Chen Tianshi as a spin-off from the Institute of Computing Technology of the CAS. Its flagship processor, the Cambricon-1A, is the first commercial chip for deep learning applications and can be used in robotics, drones, autonomous vehicles and consumer electronics.
Compared to existing processors, the Cambricon-1A boasts better performance when running mainstream AI algorithms, is more energy efficient and has a higher integration density, making it ideal for incorporation into mobile devices.
The latest round of funding puts Cambricon in the league of unicorns which refer to private companies with a total valuation of more than US$1 billion. The funds will be used for the development of high performance cloud computing platforms and the commercialization of devices such as smartphones and wearables.
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