NeoLogic wants to build more energy-efficient CPUs for AI data centers

When NeoLogic began constructing its extra energy-efficient CPUs for AI servers, people within the trade instructed its founders Avi Messica and Ziv Leshem that their concept wasn’t viable.

“Most people that we’ve got met say it’s not possible,” Messica instructed Trendster. “A few of them instructed us, on the time, that the innovation is not possible since you can’t innovate in logic synthesis. You possibly can’t innovate in circuit design. It’s too mature.”

Israel-based NeoLogic however got down to show them mistaken, and the fabless semiconductor startup has been constructing a server CPU that makes use of extra simplified logic — how a chip processes data — with fewer transistors and logic gates to run sooner whereas requiring much less energy.

NeoLogic was based in 2021 by Messica, CEO, and Leshem, CTO, who collectively have 50 years of expertise within the semiconductor trade. Leshem spent many years engaged on chip design at corporations like Intel and Synopsis, whereas Messica centered on circuit design and the manufacturing aspect.

“We co-founded this firm greater than 4 years in the past as a result of Moore’s legislation was useless,” Messica stated, referring to the Sixties commentary that the variety of transistors on microchips doubles each two years.

Round a decade in the past, Messica stated, corporations stopped attempting to scale transistors down in dimension, as a result of transistors had gotten so small, there wasn’t rather more progress to be made there.

However, he says, NeoLogic wasn’t satisfied. The startup is working with two hyperscaler companions on the design of the server CPUs, however Messica wouldn’t disclose their names. The corporate plans to have a single-core take a look at chip by the tip of the 12 months and hopes to get its server CPUs into knowledge facilities by 2027.

NeoLogic lately raised a $10 million Collection A spherical led by KOMPAS VC with participation from M Ventures, Maniv Mobility, and lool Ventures. The corporate will use the funds to broaden its engineering workforce and proceed creating its CPUs.

The funding spherical comes as knowledge facilities are straining present power sources with no reduction in sight. The continuing AI growth has knowledge middle energy utilization anticipated to double in simply the following 4 years.

Messica hopes that NeoLogic’s energy-saving potential will assist make its server CPUs too engaging for the market to disregard.

“It impacts the whole lot,” Messica stated of the potential power financial savings. “If you happen to speak about next-generation knowledge facilities, it impacts the development prices; it impacts the quantity of capital that you simply’ll make investments as a result of you may shave off roughly 30% of the price. And it impacts the water utilization. It has an affect on society, and principally that was our imaginative and prescient roughly 5 years in the past.”