旧金山，10月26日：美国硬件初创公司Unconventional AI于周一表示，正在以现金加股票的方式收购以色列芯片初创公司NeuReality，交易金额未予披露。Unconventional AI成立不到一年，估值达45亿美元。
SAN FRANCISCO, Oct 26 : Unconventional AI, the US hardware startup that launched less than a year ago with a $4.5 billion valuation, said on Monday that it is buying Israeli chip startup NeuReality for an undisclosed sum in a cash-and-stock deal.
Unconventional AI于去年12月融资4.75亿美元，由Naveen Rao领导。Rao此前曾将芯片初创公司Nervana以4亿多美元出售给英特尔，并将AI软件初创公司MosaicML以13亿美元出售给Databricks。该公司获得硅谷知名风投机构Andreessen Horowitz和Sequoia的支持，亚马逊创始人Jeff Bezos等也参与了投资。
Unconventional AI raised $475 million in December and is led by Naveen Rao, who previously sold chip startup Nervana to Intel for more than $400 million and AI software startup MosaicML to Databricks for $1.3 billion. It is backed by prominent Silicon Valley venture firms Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia, along with Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos, among others.
总部位于加利福尼亚州山景城的Unconventional AI的目标是，利用生物系统的概念，开发出比现有产品能效高1000倍的AI芯片。该公司专注于Rao所谓的“动力学系统”方法，即简单的计算元件通过简单的规则相互作用并随时间演化以得出结果，而不是像传统计算芯片那样遵循编程的逐步逻辑。
Mountain View, California-based Unconventional AI's goal is to develop AI chips that are 1,000 times more energy efficient than current offerings by using concepts from biological systems. The company is focusing on what Rao calls a "dynamical systems" approach, in which simple computing elements interact with simple rules and evolve over time to reach a result, rather than following programmed step-by-step logic as conventional computing chips do.
在接受采访时，Rao表示，当Unconventional AI筹集到4.75亿美元“弹药库”资金时，公司预计需要三年时间进行研发，五年时间开发产品。
In an interview, Rao said that when Unconventional AI raised its $475 million war chest of cash, the company expected to take three years in research and development and take five years to develop a product.
但Rao称，通过使用AI工具加速工作，Unconventional AI已经开发出首款测试芯片，并接近完成第二款，这促使公司寻找拥有交付成品经验的工程团队。
But by using AI tools to speed its work, Unconventional AI already has developed its first test chip and is nearing completion of its second, prompting the company to look for an engineering team with experience delivering finished products, Rao said.
NeuReality成立于2019年，创始人包括曾任职于Marvell Technology和英特尔的Moshe Tanach、Tzvika Shmueli和Yossi Kasus，此前已开发出多款先进AI芯片。
Founded in 2019 by Moshe Tanach, formerly of Marvell Technology and Intel, Tzvika Shmueli and Yossi Kasus, NeuReality had already developed several advanced AI chips.
“事情的进展比预期快得多，”拉奥告诉路透社。“我们需要能够执行、构建产品并实现规模化的人才。我们已经打好了研究基础，现在必须夯实生产基础。” 拉奥曾担任 NeuReality 董事会成员，他表示，约 40 人将作为交易的一部分加入 Unconventional AI，且 Unconventional AI 将保持在以色列的业务布局。
"Things have gone a lot faster than anticipated," Rao told Reuters. "We need people who can go execute and build products and scale them. We built up the research bones and now we've got to build up the production bones." Rao, who served on NeuReality's board, said about 40 people will join Unconventional AI as part of the deal, and that Unconventional AI will maintain a presence in Israel.