Cornelis Raises $205 Million to Expand AI Networking Technology

Cornelis has raised $205 million in a funding round led by IAG Capital Partners. According to ChainCatcher, the AI networking company was spun out of Intel in 2020 and develops network technology designed to help AI chips communicate more efficiently. The company said its Active Compute Fabric product aims to reduce wasted GPU time spent waiting for data by allowing chips to process and send information at the same time. Cornelis is positioning its open architecture as an alternative to Nvidia, allowing customers to use multiple GPU and accelerator hardware options on its network architecture. While Nvidia chips can technically run on other network architectures, the company’s software is optimized for its own stack, which tends to keep customers within Nvidia’s full GPU ecosystem. Cornelis has already begun shipping products and is developing a next-generation product expected to launch later this year.