Sapeon, AI Chip Startup Launches New Chip For Data Center

Sapeon, startup chip artificial intelligence (AI) (photo: yonhap)

Sapeon, an artificial intelligence (AI) chip startup backed by South Korea's telecommunications and chip conglomerate SK Group, announced the launch of its newest chip for its data center on Thursday, November 16, joining the global race to develop AI chips with major competitors such as Nvidia.

Sapeon's latest chip, X330, "represents roughly double its computational performance and 1.3 times better power efficiency" compared to competing products launched this year, the company said in a statement without providing further details on its competitors.

According to Sapeon, this product, which supports large management models (LLMs), a type of AI software used to create services such as ChatGPT, is scheduled for mass production in the first half of next year.

Sapeon designed artificial intelligence semiconductors for data centers, which require large data processing. "Chip X330 is produced by TSMC, the world's largest contract chip maker," Sapeon said.

SK Telecom, South Korea's top telecommunications company, is the parent company of Sapeon. Its subsidiary, SK Hynix, the world's largest memory chipmaker, is one of Sapeon's main shareholders.