Saudi Aramco Invests $15 Million in South Korean AI Chip Maker Rebellions

AI chip startup Rebellions to receive $14.4 mil. investment from Saudi Aramco

Rebellions' AI semiconductor kit / Courtesy of Rebellions Korea's artificial intelligence (AI) chipmaker Rebellions said Tuesday it has receive an investment of 20 billion won ($14.4 million) from Saudi Arabia's state-owned oil giant Aramco, a move expected to help the company break into the Middle Eastern AI chip market. The investment, made through Aramco's $500 million venture capital arm Wa'ed Ventures, marks the Saudi company's first investment in a Korean startup, the company said. Rebellions said it will establish a local branch in Saudi Arabia to gain a foothold in the Middle Eastern country, which has a goal of creating independent AI infrastructure and services. "We expect Aramco's investment will play a significant role in helping Rebellions expand its presence in the global market," Park Sung-hyun, the company's CEO, said. Established in 2022, Rebellions is one of the major AI chip startups in Korea. Last year, it developed an AI system-on-chip that supports large language models. Last month, the company announced its plan to merge with another notable AI chipmaking startup, Sapeon Korea, in a bid to strengthen its market position, aiming to launch an integrated entity by the end of this year. (Yonhap)

Saudi Aramco unit invests $15mln in South Korean AI chipmaker's funding round

South Korean AI chipmaker Rebellions has raised $15 million in a Series B extension, funded by Wa'ed Ventures, a venture capital firm owned by Saudi Aramco. The funds will be used to expand the startup's business in Saudi Arabia, along with accelerating its plans in AI chip development. Rebellions said it aims to establish a subsidiary in Saudi and launch new business operations. Founded in 2020, Rebellions specialises in AI inference accelerators that offer energy efficiency and low-latency performance. Within three years, the company has introduced two AI chips, with its third ready to be rolled-out in the second half of 2024. Rebellions completed its $124 million Series B funding this January, and with this extension, has now secured over $225 million in total funding since inception. Saudi Arabia has been heavily investing in Artificial Intelligence as part of its Vision 2030 diktat to diversify its economy. Earlier in March, the New York Times reported on the government's plans to create a fund of about $40 billion to invest in AI. In February, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman also launched Alat, a tech company backed by the country's Public Investment Fund (PIF), which plans to invest $100 billion by 2030 to transform the kingdom into a global hub for technology manufacturing that focuses on advanced technologies, AI, and electronics. (Writing by Bindu Rai, editing by Brinda Darasha) bindu.rai@lseg.com

Mohammed Bin Salman's AI Ambitions Get A Boost As Saudi Aramco's Venture Arm Invests $15M In South Korean AI Chipmaker

In a bid to bolster the artificial intelligence industry in Saudi Arabia, Saudi Aramco's venture arm, Wa'ed Ventures, has invested $15 million in South Korean AI chipmaker Rebellions Inc. What Happened: Rebellions is collaborating with Samsung Electronics Co. to develop its proprietary AI chips. The startup recently announced its intention to merge with Sapeon Korea Inc., a subsidiary of SK Telecom Co., and is considering an initial public offering in South Korea, reported Bloomberg. Wa'ed Ventures, with a $500 million investment fund, is a key player in the Saudi Arabian tech investment scene. This investment in Rebellions is the second in the AI industry in less than a week, following a $6.5 million funding round for California-based AI platform aiXplain. Fahad Alidi, managing director at Wa'ed Ventures, sees these investments as a strategic move to advance Saudi Arabia's position in the global technology and innovation race. Rebellions plans to use the funding to establish a new subsidiary in Saudi Arabia and commence business operations there. See Also: FBI Reportedly Used Israel-Based Security Firm's Unreleased Technology To Crack Trump Shooter's Phone Why It Matters: The investment in Rebellions is a part of Saudi Arabia's broader strategy to diversify its economy away from oil. Recently, Saudi Aramco announced an $11.2 billion stock sale to fuel Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's economic transformation plans for the Kingdom. This stock sale, the largest global offering in three years, aims to fund various initiatives under the Vision 2030 plan. Moreover, the investment in AI technology aligns with Saudi Arabia's increasing need for data centers and semiconductors. As noted by Lumida Wealth co-founder Ram Ahluwalia, "Semiconductors are the New Oil," highlighting the Kingdom's strategic pivot towards technology. Additionally, the U.S. government has recently slowed down the issuance of licenses for the export of AI chips to the Middle East, citing national security concerns. This move could have significant implications for the global tech industry and underscores the importance of Saudi Arabia developing its own AI capabilities. Despite earlier reports suggesting a potential scaling back of the ambitious $1.5 trillion NEOM project, Saudi Arabia has confirmed that the NEOM megaprojects will proceed as initially planned. This is part of the broader Vision 2030 initiative to diversify the Saudi economy away from oil. Read Next: Elon Musk's xAI Flips The Switch On 100K Nvidia H100 GPUs Worth Up To $4B In Memphis Supercluster: 'Most Powerful AI Training Cluster In The World' Image Via Shutterstock This story was generated using Benzinga Neuro and edited by Kaustubh Bagalkote Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs