Nvidia Challenger Working With South Korea And Japan

Tenstorrent designs AI Graph Processors, RISC-V CPUs, and configurable chiplets to run its software to build computers for artificial intelligence. They can be cheaper than Nvidia's because they are designed for lower cost manufacturing, make extensive use of open-source RISC-V technology, and do not require expensive high-bandwidth memory.

Wei-han Lien,“Several multinational companies have come to ask us to design cost-effective options for them because they find mainstream products too expensive when they start running inferences.”

Last February, when OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said an outrageous $5 trillion to $7 trillion, or even $8 trillion, would be needed in order to make enough AI chips to meet anticipated demand, Jim Keller wrote on X that he could do it for $1 trillion.

In addition, Tenstorrent designs AI servers, PCIe (peripheral component interconnect express) boards, and workstations for AI model developers, which it also provides with cloud computing services. The company claims that its Galaxy AI compute platform for corporations and research institutions is three times more efficient than Nvidia's DGX platform but costs a third less.

The company's TT-Buda and TT-Metalium high- and low-level software development kits, which run AI models on Tenstorrent hardware and enable custom development, compete with Nvidia's CUDA software.

Tenstorrent has received financing from the Samsung Catalyst Fund and the Hyundai Motor Group of South Korea, and also several American institutional investors including Fidelity, Eclipse Ventures, Real Ventures, Maverick and Moore Capital.

In October, 2023, the company announced that it had selected Samsung Foundry to fabricate its RISC-V CPU and AI acceleration chiplets using 4nm process technology. Shipments of 4nm devices from Samsung's fab in Taylor, Texas, are expected to begin this year. Earlier this month, it was reported that TSMC is preparing to manufacture Nvidia's new Blackwell GPU in Taiwan using its 4nm process.

In February of this year CEO Jim Keller visited Hyundai Motor's Asan factory in South Korea to meet with executives and engineers and, according to the Korea JoongAng Daily, discuss the development of AI devices for Hyundai's autonomous vehicles, robots and air mobility products (flying cars).

In March, Tenstorrent COO Keith Witek was elected to the board of directors of Hyundai Mobis, the auto parts maker of the Hyundai Motor Group. Hyundai Mobis is leading the group's advance into connected and autonomous driving with both hardware and software capabilities. Witek previously held senior positions at Google, Tesla and AMD.

Tenstorrent is also working with South Korea's LG Electronics on the application of RISC-V AI technology to TVs, consumer appliances and automotive electronics.
In November 2023, Tenstorrent and Japan's advanced logic IC foundry venture Rapidus announced an agreement to jointly develop AI semiconductor design capabilities. Established in 2022, Rapidus plans to start pilot production at the 2nm node in 2025 and mass production in 2027 at its new fab in Hokkaido.

Rapidus is backed by Sony, Toyota and Toyota's auto parts affiliate Denso, national telecom carrier NTT, telecom equipment maker NEC, investment firm Softbank and Mitsubishi UFJ, Japan's largest bank. Its process technology, which will start at 2nm and advance from there, is the result of a partnership with IBM. Its goal is to revitalize Japan's semiconductor industry and reduce its dependence on Taiwan.

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Tenstorrent Chief Customer Officer David Bennett says that“Japan is very important both to Tenstorrent and to me personally.” Before joining Tenstorrent in 2022, Bennett was CEO of NEC Personal Computers and president of Lenovo Japan. He is also a visiting lecturer at Yamagata University and a member of the board of Sanrio, the Hello Kitty company.

In February 2024, Japan's Leading-edge Semiconductor Technology Center (LSTC) announced a project commissioned by NEDO (Japan's New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization) to develop advanced semiconductor manufacturing technology for post-5G telecom infrastructure. LSTC is affiliated with Rapidus.

Called“Development of edge-AI accelerator implemented in 2-nm logic technology,” the project aims to combine Tenstorrent's RISC-V CPU and chiplet design with an accelerator chip developed by Japan's AI Chip Design Center, a collaborative research venture between the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology and the University of Tokyo. For its part, Rapidus is developing what it calls a Rapid and Unified Manufacturing Service to produce the new AI devices with short turnaround times.

Tenstorrent plans to open a high-performance computing design center in Japan to support this and future projects, while LSTC plans to send some 200 engineers to Tenstorrent for training in the US over the next five years.

With financial support from Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, this will lower the cost of expansion for Tenstorrent and strengthen its ties with Japan. After working for Tenstorrent for a year or two, many of the engineers are expected to return home, where they should help alleviate Japan's shortage of IC design talent.

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