Instead of selling to Meta, AI chip startup FuriosaAI signed a huge customer

South Korean AI chip startup FuriosaAI recently announced a partnership to supply its AI chip, RNGD, to enterprises using LG AI Research’s EXAONE platform, a next-generation hybrid AI model optimized for large language models (LLMs). This collaboration targets multiple sectors including electronics, finance, telecommunications, and biotechnology. The deal follows FuriosaAI’s decision to reject Meta’s $800 million acquisition offer three months prior, citing disagreements over post-acquisition strategy and organizational structure rather than price. FuriosaAI’s CEO June Paik emphasized the company’s commitment to remaining independent and advancing sustainable AI computing. The partnership with LG AI Research is significant as it represents a rare endorsement of a competitor to Nvidia by a major enterprise. FuriosaAI’s RNGD chip demonstrated 2.25 times better inference performance and greater energy efficiency compared to competitive GPUs when running LG’s EXAONE models. Unlike general-purpose GPUs, FuriosaAI’s hardware is specifically designed for AI computing, lowering total cost of ownership while