Toronto-based artificial intelligence (AI) chipmaker Untether AI has ceased supplying and supporting its products and entered into “a strategic agreement” with Advanced Micro Devices (AMD).
Untether AI announced the AMD deal and its shutdown yesterday in a brief blog post that indicated its team would be joining the American semiconductor giant and Nvidia rival. The exact details and financial terms were not disclosed.
“We look forward to the contributions our world-class team will make with AMD.”
Untether AI
“While today marks the end of Untether AI’s journey, we are proud of the pioneering research that underpinned our work in advancing state-of-the-art AI chip technology,” reads the post. “We are grateful for the dedication of our team and the support of our customers, partners, and investors. We look forward to the contributions our world-class team will make with AMD.”
According to CRN, which was first to report the news, the transaction will see the California-based multinational acquire Untether AI’s software and AI hardware engineering employees. It is not clear at time of publication what will become of Untether AI’s assets.
BetaKit has reached out to Untether AI and AMD for further details on the deal.
Untether AI was founded in 2018 by Martin Snelgrove, Darrick Wiebe, and Raymond Chik with the goal of developing chips designed to help AI workloads “run faster and cooler.”
The company had been developing AI inference chips that it marketed as faster and more energy-efficient than its rivals, claiming to offer “energy-centric AI inference acceleration from the edge to the cloud.”
Untether AI had raised $152 million USD (approximately $208 million CAD in funding from a group that includes Intel, Tracker Capital, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, and Radical Ventures. Its last publicly announced round was a $125-million USD financing from 2021.
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In early 2024, the company changed CEOs, bringing on Intel veteran Chris Walker to replace Arun Iyengar, who had led Untether AI for most of its existence. At the time, Walker told BetaKit that the company was currently fundraising. According to his LinkedIn profile, Walker left Untether AI last month. BetaKit has reached out to Walker for comment on his departure.
As of today, 145 people list themselves on LinkedIn as members associated with Untether AI.
AMD already has operations in Toronto and Canada, dating back to its purchase of Markham-based graphics chipmaker ATI Technologies in 2006.
This Untether AI deal appears to mark AMD’s second acquisition this week, as it also bought AI software optimization startup Brium.
Feature image courtesy Untether AI.