Taiwan Billionaire Tsai's Cathay Venture Joins $152 Million Round In French AI Chip Startup SiPearl
Cathay Venture, the venture capital arm of Taiwan billionaire Tsai Hong-tu's banking giant Cathay Financial Holdings, has participated in French AI chip startup SiPearl's €130 million ($152 million) funding round.
SiPearl's Series A round marks Cathay Venture's first investment in the European AI hub of France, the startup said in a statement on Tuesday. It's also the largest Series A round in Europe's fabless semiconductor industry, according to SiPearl. Other investors who joined the round include SoftBank-owned chip designer Arm, the European Union's European Innovation Council Fund, state-owned fund French Tech Souveraineté and French IT company Atos.
Founded in 2019, SiPearl said it will use the funds to produce its AI chip, called Rhea1. The Rhea1 chip, which SiPearl claims is 'the most complex processor ever designed in Europe,' is an Arm-based central processing unit (CPU) designed for supercomputers and inference.
SiPearl said its Rhea1 chip has been handed off to TSMC for manufacturing and will be available for sampling early next year. The chip will be deployed at the government-funded Jupiter supercomputer in Germany for applications such as engineering, materials science and dark matter research.
'With the tape-out of the most complex processor ever designed in Europe, we are showing that Europe now has a competitor capable of challenging non-European leaders,' said SiPearl founder and CEO Philippe Notton, an engineer with stints at French-Italian chip maker STMicroelectronics and Taiwan's MStar Semiconductor (which was acquired by MediaTek in 2013).
Notton added in the statement that his startup chose to forge ties with Taiwan because 'Europe needs strong and independent partners in the global semiconductor ecosystem' and Taiwan is 'at the forefront of this industry worldwide.'
In the statement, Stanley Yu, assistant vice president at Cathay Venture, said the firm invested in SiPearl because it's 'one of the few semiconductor design companies in the world that, from its inception, set out to address the computing power and energy efficiency challenges faced by modern datacenters' needs.'
Cathay Venture was established in 2003 as the investment arm of Cathay Financial, Taiwan's largest financial group with more than $400 billion in total assets. The venture capital firm has more than one-fourth of its portfolio in semiconductor and electronics companies, according to the statement. Among them is U.S.-based Rivos, cofounded by Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan, which develops chips based on the RISC-V architecture, an open-source alternative to the architecture made by Arm.
Cathay Venture's other portfolio companies include Taipei-based travel superapp KKDay, as well as Hong Kong-based virtual insurance startup OneDegree, which was featured on the Forbes Asia 100 to Watch list in 2022. MORE FROM FORBES Forbes Meet The Hong Kong Billionaire-Backed Chinese Startup That's Making Chips Without U.S. Technology By Zinnia Lee Forbes Nvidia Joins $4 Million Seed Round In Taiwan's AI-Powered Simulation Startup MetAI By Zinnia Lee Forbes Taiwan's Travel Superapp KKday Receives $70 Million Investment To Fund Asia Expansion By Zinnia Lee
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
4 minutes ago
- Yahoo
EU chief von der Leyen heads to Scotland for trade talks with Trump
By Andrew Gray and Andrea Shalal BRUSSELS/EDINBURGH (Reuters) -EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen headed to Scotland on Saturday ahead of a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday afternoon, commission spokespeople said, as EU officials said the two sides were nearing a trade agreement. Trump, in Scotland for a few days of golfing and bilateral meetings, told reporters upon his arrival on Friday evening that he was looking forward to meeting with von der Leyen, calling her a "highly respected" leader. He repeated his view that there was a 50-50 chance that the U.S. and the 27-member European Union could reach a framework trade pact, adding that Brussels wanted to "make a deal very badly". If it happened, he said it would be the biggest trade agreement reached yet by his administration, surpassing the $550 billion accord agreed with Japan earlier this week. The White House has released no details about the planned meeting or the terms of the emerging agreement. The European Commission on Thursday said a negotiated trade solution with the United States was within reach, even as EU members voted to approve counter-tariffs on 93 billion euros ($109 billion) of U.S. goods in case the talks collapse. To get a deal, Trump said the EU would have to "buy down" that tariff rate, although he gave no specifics. EU diplomats say a possible deal between Washington and Brussels would likely include a broad 15% tariff on EU goods imported into the U.S., mirroring the U.S.-Japan deal, along with a 50% tariff on European steel and aluminum. The broad tariff rate would be half the 30% duties that Trump has threatened to slap on EU goods from August 1. It remains unclear if Washington will agree to exempt the EU from sectoral tariffs on automobiles, pharmaceuticals and other goods that have already been announced or are pending. Combining goods, services and investment, the EU and the United States are each other's largest trading partners by far. The American Chamber of Commerce in Brussels warned in March that any conflict jeopardized $9.5 trillion of business in the world's most important commercial relationship. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
34 minutes ago
- Yahoo
China Premier Warns of AI ‘Monopoly' as US Effort Quickens
(Bloomberg) — China will spearhead the creation of an international organization to jointly develop AI, the country's premier said, seeking to ensure that world-changing technology doesn't become the province of just a few nations or companies. Trump Awards $1.26 Billion Contract to Build Biggest Immigrant Detention Center in US The High Costs of Trump's 'Big Beautiful' New Car Loan Deduction Can This Bridge Ease the Troubled US-Canadian Relationship? Trump Administration Sues NYC Over Sanctuary City Policy Artificial intelligence harbors risks from widespread job losses to economic upheaval that require nations to work together to address, Premier Li Qiang told the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai on Saturday. That means more international exchanges, Beijing's No. 2 official said during China's most important annual technology summit. Li didn't name any countries in his short address to kick off the event. But Chinese executives and officials have taken aim at Washington's efforts to curtail the Asian country's tech sector, including by slapping restrictions on the export of Nvidia Corp. chips crucial to AI development. On Saturday, Li acknowledged a shortage of semiconductors was a major bottleneck, but reaffirmed President Xi Jinping's call to establish policies to propel Beijing's ambitions. The government will now help create a body — loosely translated as the World AI Cooperation Organization — through which countries can share insights and talent. 'Currently, key resources and capabilities are concentrated in a few countries and a few enterprises. If we engage in technological monopoly, controls and restrictions, AI will become an exclusive game for a small number of countries and enterprises,' Li told hundreds of delegates huddled at the conference venue on the banks of Shanghai's iconic Huangpu river. China and the US are locked in a race to develop a technology with the potential to turbocharge economies and — over the long run — tip the balance of geopolitical power. This week, US President Donald Trump signed executive orders to loosen regulations and expand energy supplies for data centers — a call to arms to ensure companies like OpenAI and Google help safeguard America's lead in the post-ChatGPT era. At the same time, the breakout success of DeepSeek has inspired Chinese tech leaders and startups to accelerate research and roll out products such as open-sourced models, robots and AI agents. That parade of technology represents Chinese developers' efforts to set world standards and benchmarks, and grab a bigger slice of the global market. They also dovetail with Beijing's broader efforts to ensure self-reliance on critical technologies in the face of tensions between the world's economic superpowers. The weekend conference in Shanghai — gathering star founders, Beijing officials and deep-pocketed financiers by the thousands — is designed to catalyze that movement. The event, which has featured Elon Musk and Jack Ma in years past, was launched in 2018 to showcase China's cutting-edge technology. This year's attendance may hit a record because it's taking place at a critical juncture in the global race to lead the development of generative AI. It's already drawn some notable figures: Nobel Prize laureate Geoffrey Hinton and former Google chief Eric Schmidt were among industry heavyweights who met Shanghai party boss Chen Jining on Thursday, before they were due to speak at the conference. Going forward, China will seek to propel AI development in the Global South, Li said, referring to a loose gathering that includes Brazil and Africa. Schmidt later echoed Li's call for nations to work together — particularly China and the US. 'The upsides are phenomenal,' he told delegates. 'As the largest and most significant economic entities in the world, the United States and China should collaborate on these issues,' he said. 'We have a vested interest to keep the world stable, keep the world not at war, to keep things peaceful, to make sure we have human control of these tools.' —With assistance from Jing Li and Charlie Zhu. (Updates with Schmidt's comments from the 11th paragraph.) Burning Man Is Burning Through Cash Confessions of a Laptop Farmer: How an American Helped North Korea's Wild Remote Worker Scheme It's Not Just Tokyo and Kyoto: Tourists Descend on Rural Japan Elon Musk's Empire Is Creaking Under the Strain of Elon Musk A Rebel Army Is Building a Rare-Earth Empire on China's Border ©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
34 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Eddie Howe Clarifies Isak's Situation Ahead of Arsenal Clash
Eddie Howe confirms no contract talks with Swedish striker amid Liverpool links Eddie Howe Clarifies Isak's Situation Ahead of Arsenal Clash Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe's responded to swirling rumors surrounding the future of Alexander Isak denying any current negotiations over contract renewal with the Swedish forward. No Contract Talks Yet Speaking ahead of Newcastle's pre season friendly against Arsenal, Howe stated: "To my knowledge, there're no ongoing negotiations over Isak's contract. That could happen later" Despite Isak still having three years left on his deal speculation surged this week after the 25 year old missed the club's Asia tour due to reported thigh injury. Behind the Scenes Talks? Multiple outlets including The Athletic & Daily Mail, claim Isak's informed the club he wants clarity on possible move with Liverpool reportedly keen on his signature. However, Howe remained firm but diplomatic: "Isak's been amazing for the team. He's loved in the dressing room. We'd like him to continue his journey with us" He admitted Isak's under pressure: "He knows he'll be in the headlines daily. That's not easy for anyone in this position" €170M Price Tag Set Reports suggest Newcastle've placed 170 million Euro price tag on Isak an amount widely seen as deal breaker for potential buyers.
