A Vancouver-based startup says it has found a miniature solution to the massive energy problem in data centers: a "chip" designed to power computers more efficiently.

Said by PowerLattice co-founder

"Unleashing so much energy will deliver significantly greater performance," said Peng Zou, co-founder and CEO of PowerLattice. "We anticipate this will have a very powerful impact."

PowerLattice announced Monday that it has raised $25 million in new investment for its technology development. Former Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger will join PowerLattice's board of directors. He is a general partner at venture capital firm Playground Global, which also participated in Monday's funding round.

Celesta Capital also invested in PowerLattice. Its managing partners include current Intel CEO Liwu Chen.

About chiplet

Celesta Capital has also invested in PowerLattice. Its managing partner includes current Intel CEO Liwu Chen.

PowerLattice says it has designed a small computer chip called a "chiplet," a purpose-specific chip that can be installed near the processor responsible for core AI computations. The company claims this chipset can deliver power more precisely.

PowerLattice says the end result could be a computer system consuming half the power while maintaining the same computing power. The company says this could help alleviate the energy crisis caused by soaring data center power consumption and spur new applications and designs for AI systems.

"I think we're going to see a wave of innovation," said Mr. Zou, a former circuit designer at Intel and recently director of engineering at Qualcomm. He co-founded PowerLattice two years ago with two former colleagues.

Despite the large number of large data centers scattered along the Hillsboro to Hemmiston line in Oregon, few companies in the region are developing new AI technologies. Intel failed to foresee the booming development of AI and therefore lacks advanced chips for the market. Much of the emerging AI industry is based in San Francisco and Silicon Valley. PowerLattice may be able to bring some energy to the Portland area in the field of artificial intelligence. The company has about 20 employees, located in Washington and Arizona. PowerLattice recently moved its headquarters from Camas, where Mr. Zou lives, to a larger office space east of Vancouver for future expansion. Two of the three founders work at the Vancouver headquarters.

Large data centers can consume the equivalent of a city's electricity. The energy demands of artificial intelligence have further exacerbated this trend.

The resulting energy crisis is straining power supplies in Oregon (which has a growing number of such facilities) and across the United States. This demand exceeding available supply is also slowing the development of new computing technologies.

PowerLattice hopes to address both problems through more efficient computing. Its chipsets, smaller than a fingertip, are designed to fit close to the computer processor, reducing energy loss during transmission within the computer system.

Source: Content compiled from oregennews

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