AI · AI today, November 12, 2026
Business
UK-based Fractile raises $720 million to develop AI chips
· Aster editorial team
AI-generated imageFractile raised $720 million in a Series C backed by the UK Sovereign AI Fund and led by Thrive Capital, Founders Fund, Lightspeed, and Redpoint. The British government said the deal valued the company at more than £5 billion. Fractile plans to ship its first chips and systems next year, although its chief executive acknowledged that significant work remains.
Why it matters
The funding expands competition for specialized accelerators designed to lower model-inference costs, a market still dominated by established suppliers.
For the technical crowd
Fractile plans to stack DRAM directly on each chip and pair the hardware with its own compiler; any performance advantage remains a company expectation until systems become available.
· Source: TechCrunch
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