Nvidia challenger AI chip startup MatX raised $500M | TechCrunch
TechCrunch
by Marina TemkinFebruary 25, 2026
AI-Generated Deep Dive Summary
AI chip startup MatX has secured a significant $500 million Series B funding round led by Jane Street and Situational Awareness, an investment firm backed by former OpenAI researcher Leopold Aschenbrenner. The startup aims to develop processors that surpass Nvidia's GPUs in efficiency and performance for training large language models (LLMs), targeting a 10x improvement. This round follows MatX's $100 million Series A in 2024, which valued the company at over $300 million. Notable investors include Marvell Technology, NFDG, Spark Capital, and Stripe co-founders Patrick and John Collison.
Founded in 2023 by former Google TPU engineers Reiner Pope and Mike Gunter, MatX brings extensive experience in AI chip development. Pope previously led Google's TPU software development, while Gunter was a key hardware designer before leaving to co-found the startup. With this new funding, MatX plans to ramp up production of its chips through TSMC, with an expected launch in 2027.
The rise of MatX highlights the competitive landscape in AI chip technology, challenging Nvidia's dominant position. This investment underscores
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Originally published on TechCrunch on 2/25/2026