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AI Chip manufacturing is Black Sesame Smart Technology seeking 1.5 billion financing
According to reports, people familiar with the matter revealed that Xiaomi is considering investing in AI chip maker Black Sesame, which seeks to raise at least 1.5 billion yuan in a new round of financing.
According to people familiar with the matter, the financing valued the Shanghai-based artificial intelligence and self-driving chip maker up to US$1.5 billion. One of the people familiar with the matter said that Black Sesame's last round of financing also included Tencent Holdings Ltd. (Tencent Holdings Ltd.).
According to people familiar with the matter, Black Sesame is considering an initial public offering (IPO) on the Science and Technology Innovation Board as early as next year. They said that before any possible IPO, Black Sesame also plans to make at least one round of investment.
At present, Xiaomi has invested nearly billions of dollars in dozens of startups to build its smartphones and online ecosystems, but the transaction with Black Sesame will mark Xiaomi’s announcement of a $10 billion production of electric vehicles. The latest bet in the automotive field since the plan.
As a start-up company that designs artificial intelligence chips and systems for automobiles, Black Sesame’s main customers include major auto companies such as Robert Bosch GmbH, SAIC Motor Corp. and BYD Co. .
The above-mentioned people familiar with the matter said that details such as the scale of financing and valuation in the future may change, and discussions about the IPO are still in the early stages, and Black Sesame may also decide not to seek a listing. Representatives of Black Sesame and Xiaomi declined to comment. A representative of Tencent did not immediately comment.
Xiaomi's co-founder and billionaire Lei Jun announced last month that Xiaomi plans to invest US$10 billion in the production of electric cars in the next 10 years. The move marks that the Chinese smartphone maker has also joined the ranks of tech giants such as Apple Inc. and Huawei Technologies Co., and has begun to target the automotive industry. They all believe that the cars of the future will become more and more automated and interconnected. A person familiar with the matter said that Xiaomi will outsource car assembly to foundry manufacturers, and this model is the same as the manufacturing of its smartphones.
According to reports, the company was established in 2016 and is an artificial intelligence company focusing on image processing, perception algorithms and system-on-chip design. The website shows that the company has about 300 employees, 80% of whom are engaged in research and development.
At present, there are more and more Chinese chip manufacturers and technology giants seeking funds to develop semiconductors for training artificial intelligence algorithms, and this startup is one of them. BNEF estimates that in the first quarter alone, Chinese artificial intelligence chip companies such as Horizon Robotics Inc. and Enflame raised nearly $1.2 billion.
In recent years, driven by the vigorous development of data-intensive applications such as high-resolution video games and cryptocurrency mining, the market's demand for semiconductors capable of processing artificial intelligence tasks such as machine learning has increased significantly. The global artificial intelligence chip market is currently led by Nvidia Corp., and companies such as Amazon.com Inc. and Alphabet Inc.'s Google have also invested in their own custom server chips.
According to people familiar with the matter, the financing valued the Shanghai-based artificial intelligence and self-driving chip maker up to US$1.5 billion. One of the people familiar with the matter said that Black Sesame's last round of financing also included Tencent Holdings Ltd. (Tencent Holdings Ltd.).
According to people familiar with the matter, Black Sesame is considering an initial public offering (IPO) on the Science and Technology Innovation Board as early as next year. They said that before any possible IPO, Black Sesame also plans to make at least one round of investment.
At present, Xiaomi has invested nearly billions of dollars in dozens of startups to build its smartphones and online ecosystems, but the transaction with Black Sesame will mark Xiaomi’s announcement of a $10 billion production of electric vehicles. The latest bet in the automotive field since the plan.
As a start-up company that designs artificial intelligence chips and systems for automobiles, Black Sesame’s main customers include major auto companies such as Robert Bosch GmbH, SAIC Motor Corp. and BYD Co. .
The above-mentioned people familiar with the matter said that details such as the scale of financing and valuation in the future may change, and discussions about the IPO are still in the early stages, and Black Sesame may also decide not to seek a listing. Representatives of Black Sesame and Xiaomi declined to comment. A representative of Tencent did not immediately comment.
Xiaomi's co-founder and billionaire Lei Jun announced last month that Xiaomi plans to invest US$10 billion in the production of electric cars in the next 10 years. The move marks that the Chinese smartphone maker has also joined the ranks of tech giants such as Apple Inc. and Huawei Technologies Co., and has begun to target the automotive industry. They all believe that the cars of the future will become more and more automated and interconnected. A person familiar with the matter said that Xiaomi will outsource car assembly to foundry manufacturers, and this model is the same as the manufacturing of its smartphones.
According to reports, the company was established in 2016 and is an artificial intelligence company focusing on image processing, perception algorithms and system-on-chip design. The website shows that the company has about 300 employees, 80% of whom are engaged in research and development.
At present, there are more and more Chinese chip manufacturers and technology giants seeking funds to develop semiconductors for training artificial intelligence algorithms, and this startup is one of them. BNEF estimates that in the first quarter alone, Chinese artificial intelligence chip companies such as Horizon Robotics Inc. and Enflame raised nearly $1.2 billion.
In recent years, driven by the vigorous development of data-intensive applications such as high-resolution video games and cryptocurrency mining, the market's demand for semiconductors capable of processing artificial intelligence tasks such as machine learning has increased significantly. The global artificial intelligence chip market is currently led by Nvidia Corp., and companies such as Amazon.com Inc. and Alphabet Inc.'s Google have also invested in their own custom server chips.