Latest news with #AheadComputing
Yahoo
15-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Intel Veterans Raise $22M To Disrupt The Semiconductor Industry With The 'Baddest CPU In The World,' Backed By Apple And AMD Alum Jim Keller
Beaverton, Oregon-based semiconductor startup AheadComputing, founded by four former Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) central processing unit architects, announced in February that it secured $21.5 million in seed funding to develop a new class of high-performance processors based on the RISC-V architecture. The seed funding round was led by Eclipse Ventures, with participation from Maverick Capital, Fundomo, and EPIQ Capital. The company also added Jim Keller to its board of directors. Keller is widely regarded as one of the foremost chip designers in the world, having held engineering leadership roles at Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD), Intel, and Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA), The Oregonian reports. Don't Miss: Maker of the $60,000 foldable home has 3 factory buildings, 600+ houses built, and big plans to solve housing — Peter Thiel turned $1,700 into $5 billion—now accredited investors are eyeing this software company with similar breakout potential. Learn how you can The company, established in 2024, is aiming to design a scalable and power-efficient CPU that challenges x86 dominance in the data center and artificial intelligence sectors, The Oregonian says. Led by CEO Debbie Marr, AheadComputing intends to deliver what it calls the 'biggest, baddest CPU in the world.' RISC-V, a royalty-free, open instruction set architecture, is emerging as a credible alternative to proprietary platforms such as Intel's x86 and ARM's licensed designs. According to The Oregonian, the architecture enables companies to create customized processors without licensing restrictions or vendor lock-in. AheadComputing's team has grown to 80 employees, many of whom previously held senior roles at Intel. The company is targeting high-performance workloads in cloud infrastructure, AI inference, and edge computing applications. Its design leverages the modular 'chiplet' model, allowing for flexible system-on-chip configurations tailored to specific customer needs, The Oregonian reports. Trending: Invest where it hurts — and help millions heal:. Co-founder Jonathan Pearce told The Oregonian that the fragmentation of computing systems presents an opportunity for specialized vendors to offer optimized components within larger heterogeneous systems. 'You get the opportunity for a company like AheadComputing to provide that piece of the overall system. As opposed to the past 20 years where it was just one tech giant,' Pearce said. AheadComputing operates as a fabless semiconductor company, outsourcing chip fabrication to partners such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. This capital-efficient model allows the firm to focus resources on architectural innovation and design execution, The Oregonian reports. Intel's long-standing position as Oregon's largest private employer is undergoing transition, with multiple senior engineers departing to build independent ventures. According to The Oregonian, AheadComputing represents one of the most ambitious spinouts, combining advanced design experience with startup agility. Vice president of AheadComputing's design verification Alon Mahl said the hands-on startup environment allows engineering leaders to accelerate timelines and make immediate decisions without layers of corporate oversight. The Oregonian says that the team is already seeking larger office space in Washington County to accommodate growth and additional equipment to The Oregonian, AheadComputing joins a small group of Oregon-based chip startups led by Intel alumni, including Ampere Computing, which was recently acquired by SoftBank for $6.5 billion while retaining its Portland office footprint. Portland State University professor Christof Teuscher, an expert in microprocessor architecture, said the startup is taking a high-risk, high-reward approach. While RISC-V has traditionally been used in academic and embedded contexts, The Oregonian says that Teuscher expressed skepticism about its ability to succeed in high-performance commercial environments. According to The Oregonian, AheadComputing envisions its chips will eventually power PCs, laptops, and data centers, with possible clients including Google, Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), and Samsung. Read Next: Here's what Americans think you need to be considered wealthy. Deloitte's fastest-growing software company partners with Amazon, Walmart & Target – Many are rushing to Image: Shutterstock UNLOCKED: 5 NEW TRADES EVERY WEEK. Click now to get top trade ideas daily, plus unlimited access to cutting-edge tools and strategies to gain an edge in the markets. Get the latest stock analysis from Benzinga? APPLE (AAPL): Free Stock Analysis Report TESLA (TSLA): Free Stock Analysis Report This article Intel Veterans Raise $22M To Disrupt The Semiconductor Industry With The 'Baddest CPU In The World,' Backed By Apple And AMD Alum Jim Keller originally appeared on © 2025 Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Yahoo
15-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Intel Veterans Raise $22M To Disrupt The Semiconductor Industry With The 'Baddest CPU In The World,' Backed By Apple And AMD Alum Jim Keller
Beaverton, Oregon-based semiconductor startup AheadComputing, founded by four former Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) central processing unit architects, announced in February that it secured $21.5 million in seed funding to develop a new class of high-performance processors based on the RISC-V architecture. The seed funding round was led by Eclipse Ventures, with participation from Maverick Capital, Fundomo, and EPIQ Capital. The company also added Jim Keller to its board of directors. Keller is widely regarded as one of the foremost chip designers in the world, having held engineering leadership roles at Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD), Intel, and Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA), The Oregonian reports. Don't Miss: Maker of the $60,000 foldable home has 3 factory buildings, 600+ houses built, and big plans to solve housing — Peter Thiel turned $1,700 into $5 billion—now accredited investors are eyeing this software company with similar breakout potential. Learn how you can The company, established in 2024, is aiming to design a scalable and power-efficient CPU that challenges x86 dominance in the data center and artificial intelligence sectors, The Oregonian says. Led by CEO Debbie Marr, AheadComputing intends to deliver what it calls the 'biggest, baddest CPU in the world.' RISC-V, a royalty-free, open instruction set architecture, is emerging as a credible alternative to proprietary platforms such as Intel's x86 and ARM's licensed designs. According to The Oregonian, the architecture enables companies to create customized processors without licensing restrictions or vendor lock-in. AheadComputing's team has grown to 80 employees, many of whom previously held senior roles at Intel. The company is targeting high-performance workloads in cloud infrastructure, AI inference, and edge computing applications. Its design leverages the modular 'chiplet' model, allowing for flexible system-on-chip configurations tailored to specific customer needs, The Oregonian reports. Trending: Invest where it hurts — and help millions heal:. Co-founder Jonathan Pearce told The Oregonian that the fragmentation of computing systems presents an opportunity for specialized vendors to offer optimized components within larger heterogeneous systems. 'You get the opportunity for a company like AheadComputing to provide that piece of the overall system. As opposed to the past 20 years where it was just one tech giant,' Pearce said. AheadComputing operates as a fabless semiconductor company, outsourcing chip fabrication to partners such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. This capital-efficient model allows the firm to focus resources on architectural innovation and design execution, The Oregonian reports. Intel's long-standing position as Oregon's largest private employer is undergoing transition, with multiple senior engineers departing to build independent ventures. According to The Oregonian, AheadComputing represents one of the most ambitious spinouts, combining advanced design experience with startup agility. Vice president of AheadComputing's design verification Alon Mahl said the hands-on startup environment allows engineering leaders to accelerate timelines and make immediate decisions without layers of corporate oversight. The Oregonian says that the team is already seeking larger office space in Washington County to accommodate growth and additional equipment to The Oregonian, AheadComputing joins a small group of Oregon-based chip startups led by Intel alumni, including Ampere Computing, which was recently acquired by SoftBank for $6.5 billion while retaining its Portland office footprint. Portland State University professor Christof Teuscher, an expert in microprocessor architecture, said the startup is taking a high-risk, high-reward approach. While RISC-V has traditionally been used in academic and embedded contexts, The Oregonian says that Teuscher expressed skepticism about its ability to succeed in high-performance commercial environments. According to The Oregonian, AheadComputing envisions its chips will eventually power PCs, laptops, and data centers, with possible clients including Google, Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), and Samsung. Read Next: Here's what Americans think you need to be considered wealthy. Deloitte's fastest-growing software company partners with Amazon, Walmart & Target – Many are rushing to Image: Shutterstock UNLOCKED: 5 NEW TRADES EVERY WEEK. Click now to get top trade ideas daily, plus unlimited access to cutting-edge tools and strategies to gain an edge in the markets. Get the latest stock analysis from Benzinga? APPLE (AAPL): Free Stock Analysis Report TESLA (TSLA): Free Stock Analysis Report This article Intel Veterans Raise $22M To Disrupt The Semiconductor Industry With The 'Baddest CPU In The World,' Backed By Apple And AMD Alum Jim Keller originally appeared on © 2025 Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Yahoo
15-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Intel Veterans Raise $22M To Disrupt The Semiconductor Industry With The 'Baddest CPU In The World,' Backed By Apple And AMD Alum Jim Keller
Beaverton, Oregon-based semiconductor startup AheadComputing, founded by four former Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) central processing unit architects, announced in February that it secured $21.5 million in seed funding to develop a new class of high-performance processors based on the RISC-V architecture. The seed funding round was led by Eclipse Ventures, with participation from Maverick Capital, Fundomo, and EPIQ Capital. The company also added Jim Keller to its board of directors. Keller is widely regarded as one of the foremost chip designers in the world, having held engineering leadership roles at Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD), Intel, and Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA), The Oregonian reports. Don't Miss: Maker of the $60,000 foldable home has 3 factory buildings, 600+ houses built, and big plans to solve housing — Peter Thiel turned $1,700 into $5 billion—now accredited investors are eyeing this software company with similar breakout potential. Learn how you can The company, established in 2024, is aiming to design a scalable and power-efficient CPU that challenges x86 dominance in the data center and artificial intelligence sectors, The Oregonian says. Led by CEO Debbie Marr, AheadComputing intends to deliver what it calls the 'biggest, baddest CPU in the world.' RISC-V, a royalty-free, open instruction set architecture, is emerging as a credible alternative to proprietary platforms such as Intel's x86 and ARM's licensed designs. According to The Oregonian, the architecture enables companies to create customized processors without licensing restrictions or vendor lock-in. AheadComputing's team has grown to 80 employees, many of whom previously held senior roles at Intel. The company is targeting high-performance workloads in cloud infrastructure, AI inference, and edge computing applications. Its design leverages the modular 'chiplet' model, allowing for flexible system-on-chip configurations tailored to specific customer needs, The Oregonian reports. Trending: Invest where it hurts — and help millions heal:. Co-founder Jonathan Pearce told The Oregonian that the fragmentation of computing systems presents an opportunity for specialized vendors to offer optimized components within larger heterogeneous systems. 'You get the opportunity for a company like AheadComputing to provide that piece of the overall system. As opposed to the past 20 years where it was just one tech giant,' Pearce said. AheadComputing operates as a fabless semiconductor company, outsourcing chip fabrication to partners such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. This capital-efficient model allows the firm to focus resources on architectural innovation and design execution, The Oregonian reports. Intel's long-standing position as Oregon's largest private employer is undergoing transition, with multiple senior engineers departing to build independent ventures. According to The Oregonian, AheadComputing represents one of the most ambitious spinouts, combining advanced design experience with startup agility. Vice president of AheadComputing's design verification Alon Mahl said the hands-on startup environment allows engineering leaders to accelerate timelines and make immediate decisions without layers of corporate oversight. The Oregonian says that the team is already seeking larger office space in Washington County to accommodate growth and additional equipment to The Oregonian, AheadComputing joins a small group of Oregon-based chip startups led by Intel alumni, including Ampere Computing, which was recently acquired by SoftBank for $6.5 billion while retaining its Portland office footprint. Portland State University professor Christof Teuscher, an expert in microprocessor architecture, said the startup is taking a high-risk, high-reward approach. While RISC-V has traditionally been used in academic and embedded contexts, The Oregonian says that Teuscher expressed skepticism about its ability to succeed in high-performance commercial environments. According to The Oregonian, AheadComputing envisions its chips will eventually power PCs, laptops, and data centers, with possible clients including Google, Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), and Samsung. Read Next: Here's what Americans think you need to be considered wealthy. Deloitte's fastest-growing software company partners with Amazon, Walmart & Target – Many are rushing to Image: Shutterstock UNLOCKED: 5 NEW TRADES EVERY WEEK. Click now to get top trade ideas daily, plus unlimited access to cutting-edge tools and strategies to gain an edge in the markets. Get the latest stock analysis from Benzinga? APPLE (AAPL): Free Stock Analysis Report TESLA (TSLA): Free Stock Analysis Report This article Intel Veterans Raise $22M To Disrupt The Semiconductor Industry With The 'Baddest CPU In The World,' Backed By Apple And AMD Alum Jim Keller originally appeared on © 2025 Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Ex-Intel engineers are developing the 'biggest, baddest CPU in the world' by targeting IPC, not clockspeed or core counts
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Intel, CPUs, and the concept of "badness" aren't necessarily things you'd want to shout about, what with numerous well-documented issues afflicting Intel's recent processors. But a new Oregon-based startup called AheadComputing is leaning hard on the Intel provenance of its founders while claiming that it is creating, "the biggest, baddest CPU in the world." And it's going to do it via IPC or instructions per clock, not cranking up the operating frequencies or throwing in more cores. That is some statement. All four of AheadComputing's founders had long careers at Intel, dating all the way back to ye olde 386 processor through to the latest Intel Core-branded chips. What's more, AheadComputing also appointed CPU design legend Jim Keller to its board in March. That's at least a vote of confidence, even if it seems unlikely Keller will be involved in the design of AheadComputing's CPUs. The company is very young, having launched in July last year with a plan to, "develop and license breakthrough, high-performance 64-bit RISC-V processor cores." RISC-V, of course, is an open-source instruction set that exists to present a more modern and cost effective alternative to the proprietary x86 and Arm standards. Currently, RISC-V chips tend to be found in embedded applications and commercial devices. RISC-V has yet to make much of an impact in PCs or phones, for instance. Exactly how AheadComputing is going to deliver on that promise of the "biggest, baddest CPU in the world" isn't totally clear beyond the focus in IPC. It's a fabless startup, which means it won't manufacture chips itself. But then the likes of AMD and Nvidia are fabless, too. It's really only Intel that designs and manufactures its own chips, and that business is coming under increasing pressure. According to AheadComputing's CEO Debbie Marr, "the x86 ecosystem is fiercely defending its territory but is destined to lose in the end." As for Arm, she says, "we anticipate that the ARM ecosystem will experience considerable strain in the coming years. If ARM's current customers are pressured excessively, they will consider transitioning to an alternative architecture like RISC-V." In response, AheadComputing claims it will, "demonstrate leadership in CPU performance and performance per watt in a very short timeframe and start building the second generation of products that will demonstrate our commitment to a roadmap with large gains in performance generation over generation." AheadComputing says it will achieve that via IPC, or instructions processed per clock, as opposed to operating frequency or adding cores. "If the performance and efficiency from the multi-core scaling era are slowing down, then it's time for the CPU designers to find a different way to use the additional gates from new process technologies. CPU designers must look towards IPC. This will require increasing the functions for each core rather than increasing the number of cores. If we do this intelligently, AheadComputing will provide performance improvements regardless of workload parallelism," says co-founder Jonathan Pearce. That latter point could be critical. When Intel's plans for 10 GHz-plus computing hit the wall towards the latter end of the 2000's, the company dramatically changed tack in favour of multi-core computing as a way to add performance in the absence of substantial clockspeed improvements. The problem with adding cores is that it relies on multi-threaded workloads. That's fine for many tasks, like 3D rendering. But it's not a magic bullet for every computational task. Indeed, that's why AMD's eight-core Ryzen 7 9800X3D is the weapon of choice for PC gaming, currently. Adding another eight cores in the form of the Ryzen 9 9950X3D typically doesn't do a whole lot for gaming performance. Whatever, aside from that focus on IPC as opposed to adding cores, AheadComputing isn't going into any detail. For sure, it will be years before the company's CPU core designs have any chance of showing up in a device you can actually buy. Your next upgrade Best CPU for gaming: The top chips from Intel and gaming motherboard: The right graphics card: Your perfect pixel-pusher SSD for gaming: Get into the game ahead of the rest. But the focus on IPC is still interesting. Right now, Apple's M Series CPUs offer the best IPC in a consumer chip by absolutely miles. The latest M4 easily outperforms anything from Intel or AMD when it comes to a single software thread, despite running at significantly lower clockspeeds. Metrics vary, but the M4 probably has a lead of at least 30% in terms of pure IPC versus the best AMD and Intel CPUs, and quite possibly more. Personally, if you offered me a CPU with either 50% more IPC or 50% more cores, I'd take the IPC every time. That will deliver in almost any circumstance, while multi-core CPUs can be a bit more hit and miss. Aiming for improved IPC also tends to make for better efficiency, which is great for mobile PCs. Anywho, for now we'll have to chalk AheadComputing down as a slow burn. The company has strong provenance, but it's anyone's guess as to whether it will, in reality, make an impact. My best guess is that if it manages to come up with an interesting core design, it'll get snapped up by one of the big boys, just as the startup Nuvia was bought by Qualcomm and its Oryon CPU cores ended up in the new Snapdragon X chips. And all of that is before you even begin to ponder the odds of any RiSC-V chip making an impact on the PC. Industry watchers have been predicting Arm chips would take over the PC for decades. That still hasn't happened.
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Ex-Intel engineers are developing the 'biggest, baddest CPU in the world' by targeting IPC, not clockspeed or core counts
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Intel, CPUs, and the concept of "badness" aren't necessarily things you'd want to shout about, what with numerous well-documented issues afflicting Intel's recent processors. But a new Oregon-based startup called AheadComputing is leaning hard on the Intel provenance of its founders while claiming that it is creating, "the biggest, baddest CPU in the world." And it's going to do it via IPC or instructions per clock, not cranking up the operating frequencies or throwing in more cores. That is some statement. All four of AheadComputing's founders had long careers at Intel, dating all the way back to ye olde 386 processor through to the latest Intel Core-branded chips. What's more, AheadComputing also appointed CPU design legend Jim Keller to its board in March. That's at least a vote of confidence, even if it seems unlikely Keller will be involved in the design of AheadComputing's CPUs. The company is very young, having launched in July last year with a plan to, "develop and license breakthrough, high-performance 64-bit RISC-V processor cores." RISC-V, of course, is an open-source instruction set that exists to present a more modern and cost effective alternative to the proprietary x86 and Arm standards. Currently, RISC-V chips tend to be found in embedded applications and commercial devices. RISC-V has yet to make much of an impact in PCs or phones, for instance. Exactly how AheadComputing is going to deliver on that promise of the "biggest, baddest CPU in the world" isn't totally clear beyond the focus in IPC. It's a fabless startup, which means it won't manufacture chips itself. But then the likes of AMD and Nvidia are fabless, too. It's really only Intel that designs and manufactures its own chips, and that business is coming under increasing pressure. According to AheadComputing's CEO Debbie Marr, "the x86 ecosystem is fiercely defending its territory but is destined to lose in the end." As for Arm, she says, "we anticipate that the ARM ecosystem will experience considerable strain in the coming years. If ARM's current customers are pressured excessively, they will consider transitioning to an alternative architecture like RISC-V." In response, AheadComputing claims it will, "demonstrate leadership in CPU performance and performance per watt in a very short timeframe and start building the second generation of products that will demonstrate our commitment to a roadmap with large gains in performance generation over generation." AheadComputing says it will achieve that via IPC, or instructions processed per clock, as opposed to operating frequency or adding cores. "If the performance and efficiency from the multi-core scaling era are slowing down, then it's time for the CPU designers to find a different way to use the additional gates from new process technologies. CPU designers must look towards IPC. This will require increasing the functions for each core rather than increasing the number of cores. If we do this intelligently, AheadComputing will provide performance improvements regardless of workload parallelism," says co-founder Jonathan Pearce. That latter point could be critical. When Intel's plans for 10 GHz-plus computing hit the wall towards the latter end of the 2000's, the company dramatically changed tack in favour of multi-core computing as a way to add performance in the absence of substantial clockspeed improvements. The problem with adding cores is that it relies on multi-threaded workloads. That's fine for many tasks, like 3D rendering. But it's not a magic bullet for every computational task. Indeed, that's why AMD's eight-core Ryzen 7 9800X3D is the weapon of choice for PC gaming, currently. Adding another eight cores in the form of the Ryzen 9 9950X3D typically doesn't do a whole lot for gaming performance. Whatever, aside from that focus on IPC as opposed to adding cores, AheadComputing isn't going into any detail. For sure, it will be years before the company's CPU core designs have any chance of showing up in a device you can actually buy. Your next upgrade Best CPU for gaming: The top chips from Intel and gaming motherboard: The right graphics card: Your perfect pixel-pusher SSD for gaming: Get into the game ahead of the rest. But the focus on IPC is still interesting. Right now, Apple's M Series CPUs offer the best IPC in a consumer chip by absolutely miles. The latest M4 easily outperforms anything from Intel or AMD when it comes to a single software thread, despite running at significantly lower clockspeeds. Metrics vary, but the M4 probably has a lead of at least 30% in terms of pure IPC versus the best AMD and Intel CPUs, and quite possibly more. Personally, if you offered me a CPU with either 50% more IPC or 50% more cores, I'd take the IPC every time. That will deliver in almost any circumstance, while multi-core CPUs can be a bit more hit and miss. Aiming for improved IPC also tends to make for better efficiency, which is great for mobile PCs. Anywho, for now we'll have to chalk AheadComputing down as a slow burn. The company has strong provenance, but it's anyone's guess as to whether it will, in reality, make an impact. My best guess is that if it manages to come up with an interesting core design, it'll get snapped up by one of the big boys, just as the startup Nuvia was bought by Qualcomm and its Oryon CPU cores ended up in the new Snapdragon X chips. And all of that is before you even begin to ponder the odds of any RiSC-V chip making an impact on the PC. Industry watchers have been predicting Arm chips would take over the PC for decades. That still hasn't happened.
