Raja Koduri Strikes Back: Here’s the Project That Aims to Change the Future of AI GPUs

OXMIQ Labs

OXMIQ Labs, a startup founded by former graphics divisions head of AMD and Intel, Raja Koduri, has announced the closing of a Series A funding round of $35 million. This operation brings the total raised by the company to $60 million, focusing on developing a new GPU architecture intended for artificial intelligence systems.

The funding was co-led by Fundomo and Samsung Catalyst Fund, with participation from MediaTek, AM Intelligence Labs, Pegatron Venture Capital, CDIB-TEN, Darwin Ventures, Morgan Creek Digital, and Intel Capital, among other strategic and financial investors. The presence of companies directly involved in the semiconductor supply chain highlights the interest in an alternative model compared to traditional AI accelerator developments.

Central Strategy

At the heart of OXMIQ's strategy is OxCore, a scalable and licensed GPU architecture aimed at enabling semiconductor manufacturers and AI infrastructure builders to create custom accelerators without facing the costs and complexities of developing a complete System-on-Chip.

The distinguishing feature of the platform is the integration of three processing engines within the same core: a CUDA-compatible GPU unit, a dedicated tensor processing engine, and an orchestration processor tasked with coordinating workloads and AI agents. The architecture has been designed for near-memory computing, reducing data movement between memory and processing with the aim of improving both energy efficiency and performance in inference applications.

According to the company, OxCore is already operational on FPGA platforms, where public demonstrations of the technology are being conducted. The modular design is also expected to allow the architecture to scale from single-core configurations to systems intended for data centers.

OxQuilt Development

Alongside OxCore, OXMIQ is developing OxQuilt, a chiplet-based integration platform that enables the combination of different types of computing units and memory within the same package. This approach aims to make the design independent of the choice of foundry, memory, and packaging technologies, providing customers with greater flexibility in designing custom AI accelerators and preparing the architecture for the future adoption of technologies like silicon photonics.

Software Front

On the software front, the company offers a complete stack that includes orchestration tools and kernel optimization, as well as OxPython, an environment that promises compatibility with existing CUDA and PyTorch code without requiring modifications. The stated goal is to enable developers to maintain application portability even on hardware different from traditional accelerators.

Governance Strengthening

Alongside the funding, OXMIQ has announced a strengthening of its governance. Jim Keller, CEO of Tenstorrent and one of the industry's most renowned processor designers, has joined the company’s board of directors, while Bob Rao, a former Fellow of Intel’s manufacturing development group, assumes the role of technical advisor.