Introduction to VSORA and its Mission
French chip designer VSORA has secured $46 million in new funding to challenge the dominance of AI giants like Nvidia, AMD, Intel, and Google in the European market. The startup is focused on developing a custom-built inference processor called Jotunn8, which is slated to be released in the second half of 2025. The Jotunn8 chip will be manufactured using 5nm production at TSMC, a leading semiconductor foundry.
Ensuring Europe’s Technological AI Sovereignty
The funding round was led by Otium and a French family office, with additional support from Omnes Capital, Adélie Capital, and the European Innovation Council Fund. The investors believe in VSORA’s potential to carve out a space in the crowded AI chip market, which is currently dominated by non-European companies. According to Gaspard de Veyrac, Principal at Otium, "In a market dominated by global giants like Nvidia, VSORA is a unique opportunity for France and Europe, home to world-class engineering talent."
The Jotunn8 Chip: A Game-Changer for Inference Workloads
The Jotunn8 chip is specifically designed for inference workloads, which involves running trained AI models on large amounts of data. Unlike GPUs, which are built for training models, the Jotunn8 chip focuses on performance per watt, latency, and cost per query. The company claims that the Jotunn8 chip delivers more than three times the performance of current solutions while using less than half the power. This is achieved through a unique architecture that prioritizes efficiency and speed.
Key Features and Benefits of the Jotunn8 Chip
The Jotunn8 chip is designed to target workloads like ChatGPT-style generative AI, autonomous driving, and edge devices. It boasts an impressive 3,200 teraflops of compute power, making it an attractive option for companies looking to deploy AI models at scale. The chip’s low power consumption and high performance make it an ideal choice for applications where energy efficiency is crucial.
Conclusion
The funding secured by VSORA marks a significant milestone in the company’s mission to revolutionize AI chips and ensure Europe’s technological sovereignty in AI computing. With the Jotunn8 chip, VSORA is poised to challenge the dominance of non-European chip designers and provide a viable alternative for companies looking to deploy AI models at scale. As the AI landscape continues to evolve, VSORA’s innovative approach to chip design is likely to have a profound impact on the industry.
