{
  "id": 11202670,
  "title": "Volantis raises $88 million for tech to connect AI, memory chips",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/01/volantis-raises-88-million-for-tech-to-connect-ai-memory-chips-11202670",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-10-01T13:41:06.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Economic Times Tech",
    "slug": "economic-times-tech",
    "url": "https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/funding/volantis-raises-88-million-for-tech-to-connect-ai-memory-chips/articleshow/134620919.cms"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "San Francisco-based semiconductor startup Volantis has successfully raised $88 million in venture capital funding to tackle a significant challenge faced by AI chips. The primary obstacle is the limited communication between a chip's computing parts and the memory chips that store AI models and data. Nvidia and AMD have addressed this issue by surrounding their computing chips with high-bandwidth memory chips, but even their top offerings can only accommodate eight memory chips per GPU due to the restricted reach of electrical wires.\n\nVolantis is pioneering a novel approach by utilizing vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) to transmit data between computing chips and memory chips via beams of laser light. This method circumvents the reach limitation and enables the company to integrate 220 memory chips around a GPU.\n\nThe company plans to capitalize on existing components, such as VCSELs, which are already employed in facial recognition systems in numerous devices, including Apple products. Volantis aims to circumvent supply chain bottlenecks and deliver an AI chip next year that significantly enhances tasks like AI coding, according to Tapa Ghosh, CEO and co-founder of Volantis.\n\nThe funding round was spearheaded by Stripe veteran Lachy Groom and Abstract Ventures, with participation from John Doerr, who backed Google and Amazon.com in their early stages, along with contributions from VXI Capital, Triatomic, and Susa Ventures. Angel investors including AI podcaster Dwarkesh Patel, AI chip veteran Naveen Rao, and Anthropic researcher Sholto Douglas also contributed to the round.",
  "summary": "The fundamental limit for AI chips from both Nvidia and rivals like Advanced Micro Devices is how well the computing parts of a chip can talk to the memory chips where an AI model lives and feeds data to the computing chip. Nvidia and AMD solve the problem by encircling their computing chips with expensive high-bandwidth memory chips.",
  "key_points": [
    "Volantis raises $88 million for AI chip technology",
    "Uses VCSELs to transmit data via laser beams",
    "Plans to release enhanced AI chip next year"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 3,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "CNA - Business",
        "title": "Volantis raises $88 million for tech to connect AI, memory chips",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/01/volantis-raises-88-million-for-tech-to-connect-ai-memory-chips",
        "published": "2026-10-01T13:08:12.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Techmeme",
        "title": "Volantis, which aims to use vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers, used in the iPhone's Face ID, to transmit data between AI and memory chips, raised $88M (Stephen Nellis/Reuters)",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/01/volantis-which-aims-to-use-vertical-cavity-surface-emitting-lasers",
        "published": "2026-10-01T15:45:03.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}