British AI chip startup raises $125m for power-efficient servers

Summarised from 2 outlets · 3 reports · Updated 14 Oct, 17:45 · Archive

Oxford-based Salience Labs has raised $125m to scale production of photonic chips designed to reduce data centre power consumption.

Oxford-based chip startup Salience Labs has raised $125m (£94m) to scale production of photonic chips designed to reduce the enormous energy demands of AI data centres. The funding round was led by Bullhound Capital and included investors AMD Ventures, Intel Capital, SBI Group, Hudson River Trading and the British Business Bank.

Salience's optical circuit switching technology keeps data travelling as light rather than relying on electrical signals, potentially reducing power consumption and delays in data centres. This approach could allow facilities to devote more of their limited electricity supply to running AI models rather than moving information between chips and servers. Chief executive Vaysh Kewada said the investment would accelerate the company's move towards high-volume production and that optical switches would be needed to deliver the performance that AI workloads demand.

Salience plans to use the funding to expand its manufacturing capacity and strengthen its presence in Silicon Valley as it seeks to supply infrastructure for the global AI boom. The investment comes as Britain's ambitions to become a global AI hub face mounting concerns over electricity costs and access to the national grid.

How it is being reported

• Oxford AI chip startup raises $125m to tackle data centre power crunchOxford-based chip startup Salience Labs has raised $125m (£94m) from investors, including AMD and Intel, as the race to build AI data centres puts growing pressure on electricity supplies. The funding round, led by Bullhound Capital, is set to help the British firm scale production of its photonic chips, which use light rather than electrical [...]City AM · 14 Oct, 14:00
• Nvidia, worth $5.5tn, donates $250m to UK for AI safety researchPledge spanning five years from world’s most valuable firm comes as concerns about AI agents have risen The $5.5tn (£4.1tn) US chipmaker Nvidia is donating $250m worth of computing power to the UK to support AI safety research. The donation from the world’s most valuable company comes as the UK government confirmed its AI Security Institute, which tests advance AI models, will be able to examine cutting-edge technology developed by companies such as OpenAI, Anthropic and Google before they are released. Continue reading...Guardian Business · 14 Oct, 11:10
• British AI chip startup raises $125m to tackle data centre power crunchOxford-based chip startup Salience Labs has raised $125m (£94m) from investors including, AMD and Intel, as the race to build AI data centres has put growing pressure on electricity supplies. The funding round, led by Bullhound Capital, is set to help the British firm scale production of its photonic chips, which use light rather than [...]City AM · 12 Oct, 14:39

In this story: Salience Labs · AMD · Intel · Bullhound Capital · British Business Bank · Vaysh Kewada · Oxford · Silicon Valley

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