Etched
AI chip startup building Sohu, an ASIC purpose-built for transformer inference
AI
📍 Cupertino, CA
Founded 2022
Current Valuation
$1.5B
as of 2026-Q1
UNICORN
Etched is building Sohu, a specialized ASIC designed exclusively for running transformer models. The company claims its single-purpose hardware can run inference an order of magnitude faster and more efficiently than general-purpose GPUs from NVIDIA. Has a manufacturing partnership with TSMC's Emerging Businesses Group.
Company Profile
Last Round
Series A — $120M (Jun 2024) · Lead: Primary Venture Partners
IPO Status
no imminent plans
Founders & Key People
Gavin UbertiRobert WachenChris Zhu
Investors
Primary Venture Partners · Peter Thiel · Stanley Druckenmiller · GV · Two Sigma Ventures
Competitors
Groq · Cerebras · Tenstorrent · SambaNova
AIHardwareInferenceASIC
Private-company numbers are not real-time. Reflects publicly disclosed valuations from press releases, news reports, and tender offers as of 2026-Q1. Refreshed quarterly.