Samsung Backs Euclyd in a $230 Million Push to Challenge NVIDIA

Samsung is backing Dutch AI chip startup Euclyd with $230 million as the company develops new hardware designed to challenge Nvidia’s dominance in AI inference.

Euclyd has raised $230 million in Series A funding, with Samsung co-leading the round.

Other investors include Somerset Capital Partners, the Scaleup Europe Fund managed by EQT, and Innovation Industries.

Euclyd wants to offer AI companies an alternative to Nvidia GPUs, which dominate much of today’s AI infrastructure. Nvidia recently reported $96.2 billion in revenue as demand for AI hardware continues to surge.

Euclyd plans to launch its AI hardware in 2028

Euclyd plans to introduce its first physical AI chip systems in 2028 and wants to serve thousands of customers by the end of the decade.

Samsung will provide more than financial backing. Euclyd plans to use Samsung’s manufacturing capacity, supply-chain network, and memory engineering expertise to move its architecture from design into production.

That support could help Euclyd address the manufacturing and scaling challenges that often slow new semiconductor companies.

Euclyd wants to cut AI data center costs

Euclyd is designing its chips to reduce the energy requirements and operating costs associated with AI inference.

The company plans to sell physical rack systems directly to enterprises that want secure, self-hosted AI inference while also licensing its intellectual property to third-party chip designers.

CEO Bernardo Kastrup argues that current AI infrastructure faces growing constraints and that the industry will need new hardware architectures to keep scaling.

High GPU prices could give Nvidia rivals an opening

Rising GPU and memory prices could make alternative AI accelerators more attractive to companies looking to lower infrastructure costs.

Nvidia hardware prices could also face more pressure, with reports suggesting that another NVIDIA price hike is coming.

If Euclyd and other competitors successfully expand AI accelerator supply, stronger competition could eventually ease some pressure on AI hardware prices.

Via CNBC