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Akhetonics gets fresh funding for a contrarian bet on all-optical chips
Photonics -- a field that underpins light-based systems for manipulating data -- has a bright future, as the rise of AI demands better computing
Photonics — a field that underpins light-based systems for manipulating data — has a bright future, as the rise of AI demands better computing performance, but it has yet to be fully applied to a new generation of chips. German startup Akhetonics hopes to change that. It’s raised a €6 million seed funding round (approximately $6.33 million) to deliver on this promise, TechCrunch can exclusively reveal.
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While several companies are working with photons on tangential issues or point solutions that mix electronics and photonics, Akhetonics — whose name is a portmanteau of Akhet, an Egyptian hieroglyph for “horizon”, and photonics — is outright aiming to build a general-purpose chip.
“General purpose” in this context means chips that it could be used for all sorts of tasks and software applications. And since Akhetonics is taking an all-optical approach that will also be digital and compatible with existing workloads, unlike analog approaches, it could be particularly useful in environments that require high-performance in real time, such as networking, avionics, and space.
Speed aside, energy efficiency is another aspect where photonics can help — and one that is increasingly tied to geopolitics, as is chip sovereignty. “For us, the most interesting part is that we have a supply chain that is very diverse,” co-founder and CEO Michael Kissner told TechCrunch.
Potentially, Akhetonics could make its general-purpose chip anywhere, making it possible for companies to access locally sourced high-performance compute — if it works. That’s a big “if”; or more precisely, “when.”
Most observers agree that photonics will make its way to chips — but French VC firm Daphni, for instance, recently said it won’t invest in general-purpose chips at the moment.