Seoul-based AI chip startup FuriosaAI has turned down an $800 million takeover bid from Meta, according to details from a local daily. The negotiations between the two companies fell apart over disagreements around post-acquisition strategy and organisational structure, not the price.
Founded in 2017, FuriosaAI developed RNGD, an AI chip optimised for Llama 2 and Llama 3. The chip is said to consume less power than NVIDIA’s H100 GPUs.
FuriosaAI has raised $115 million from investors, including Naver and DSC Investment. CEO June Paik, formerly of Samsung and AMD, holds an 18.4% stake.
This acquisition intended to reduce Meta’s reliance on NVIDIA for AI chips. Last year, the tech giant introduced its custom chips and announced plans to spend up to $65 billion on AI initiatives in 2025.
Earlier this year, it was reported that OpenAI is also building its custom chips.
The company plans to finalise the design soon and send it to TSMC for production, with mass production expected in 2026. A team of 40 engineers, led by former Google employee Richard Ho, is developing the chip in partnership with Broadcom. The chip will be used to train AI models and improve over time.
Tech giants Microsoft and Meta have faced challenges in producing AI chips. OpenAI’s move aligns with industry efforts to reduce dependence on NVIDIA, which controls 80% of the AI chip market. Microsoft and Meta plan to invest $80 billion and $60 billion in AI infrastructure next year, respectively.
The chip will use 3-nm technology with features similar to NVIDIA’s, including fast memory and networking.
