Reportedly, Tencent has invested more money into Enflame Technology, a chip start-up as it predicts the growing local industry for semiconductors. This announcement comes amidst a tech war between the U.S. and China, Beijing drive for more self-made and reliable semiconductors The company collaborating with many investors including CICC, CITIC Capital along with Primavera has invested $278.5 million (1.8 billion yuan) in Shanghai-based Enflame Technology. it has received many rounds of funding from the tech giant.
The business model of Enflame Technology involves the development of chips designed to process and fetch bulk amounts of data for the training of artificial intelligence systems. The chips are mainly designed for DC (data centers).For the last couple of years, China has been searching to expand its capabilities in both semiconductors and AI as the tech trade war with the USA continues.
Beijing is trying to wean itself off the state's technology so a key focus of Beijing is Chips and AI. But it seems Washington has already looked to hurt the nation’s ambitions by blacklisting SMIC, which is the largest ever semiconductor manufacturer in Beijing, China. On the other side, although Enflame Technology is still in its nascent stages, inventive small start-ups are likely to be an important growth hack to China’s broader ambitions in the chip market.
China’s endeavor in AI chips is still developing compared to firms such as chip giants AMD and NVIDIA in America. But by funding and raising money, start-ups are rapidly seeking to accelerate development. Last year, in an initial public offering (IPO), Cambricon Technologies raised an amount as good as 2.58 billion yuan in Shanghai. Tencent’s investment in Enflame Technology also features another trend wherein China’s technology beasts are highly investing in the semiconductor industry.
Source credit :
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/06/tencent-invests-in-chinese-ai-chip-start-up-enflame.html