Startup Kneron Inc., which develops artificial intelligence chips for connected devices, today announced that it has raised $49 million in additional funding.

The capital was provided as an extension to a similarly-sized Series B round that first closed last year. One of the participants in Kneron’s latest raise was Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. Ltd., better known as Foxconn, the world’s largest contract electronics manufacturer. Semiconductor maker Liteon Technology Corp. and a number of other investors contributed as well.

San Diego-based Kneron develops chips that can be used to equip smart cars, robots and other connected devices with AI features. Its chips are specifically optimized for inference, or the task of running trained AI models on live data. Kneron says machine learning applications powered by its silicon can operate without interruption even if they lose internet access.

The company’s funding announcement today comes about a month after it debuted its newest AI chip. The KL730 combines a four-core central processing unit based on Arm Holdings Plc. designs with an accelerator optimized for inference workloads. The chip can be connected to the other components of the device in which it’s installed via SD, USB or Ethernet links.

Kneron says that the KL730 can perform up to 4 trillion data operations per second. Furthermore, the company claims the processor provides that performance while providing three to four times higher power efficiency than earlier silicon. Kneron positions the KL730 as a more cost-effective alternative to graphics cards, the chips most commonly used to run AI models.

Kneron co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Albert Liu told TechCrunch that the company generates “double digit millions” in revenue from its chips. The company’s customers include electronics giant Garmin Ltd. and Naver Corp., the operator of South Korea’s most popular search engine.

Using its newly raised capital, Kneron plans to add more customers with a particular focus on companies in the auto sector. A few months before the funding round, it acquired an auto parts supplier called Otus to advance the effort. Otus develops cameras and software that can help smart vehicles’ driver assistance systems detect nearby objects such as other cars.

To accelerate its push into the auto sector, Kneron is teaming up with investor Foxconn. The companies will collaborate on the development of an “ultra-lightweight AI chip” optimized for use in vehicles. The chip will reportedly be capable of running large language models based on the GPT architecture, which underpins OpenAI LP’s GPT-4 and other advanced AI systems. 

Kneron will also use its newly raised capital to hire more people. According to TechCrunch, many of the new hires the company plans to onboard will join its research and development group.

Image: Kneron