LG struck a deal with FuriosaAI, opting for collaboration instead of accepting a purchase offer from Meta
FuriosaAI, a South Korean AI chip startup, has formed a strategic partnership with LG AI Research, marking a significant endorsement of an Nvidia competitor by a major enterprise. The partnership, announced recently, will see FuriosaAI's RNGD AI chip supplied to enterprises utilising LG AI Research's EXAONE platform.
The partnership comes approximately three months after FuriosaAI declined an $800 million acquisition proposal from Meta. The acquisition talks failed due to fundamental disagreements concerning post-acquisition business strategy and organisational structure.
June Paik, CEO of FuriosaAI, addressed the termination of discussions with Meta, stating, "It's an exciting opportunity for us to contribute to making AI computing more sustainable. We believe this partnership will lead to demands for our chip solutions, not only in Korea but also globally."
LG AI Research recently introduced its next-generation hybrid AI model, EXAONE 4.0, which is regarded as the leading sovereign AI model in South Korea. The adoption of FuriosaAI's hardware was a significant factor in its selection, given the chip's cost-effective solution and enhanced energy efficiency compared to general-purpose GPUs.
FuriosaAI's RNGD accelerator demonstrated 2.25 times greater inference performance compared to competitive GPUs when running LG AI Research's EXAONE models. The chip is designed exclusively for AI applications, and the RNGD chip is engineered for optimal performance with large language models (LLMs).
The strategic alliance aims to serve diverse applications across key sectors, including electronics, finance, telecommunications, and biotechnology. With this partnership, FuriosaAI anticipates that the demands for its chip solutions will extend beyond the South Korean market.
FuriosaAI currently employs a global team of 15 individuals and maintains an office in Santa Clara. It is unclear if FuriosaAI is seeking new funding following the decision to forgo the acquisition.
The partnership between FuriosaAI and LG AI Research is expected to generate business prospects beyond the South Korean market, representing a notable endorsement of an Nvidia competitor by a major enterprise.
