⚡ AI Brief ⚡ Jane Street first tested Etched’s AI chips, then became its first paying customer. Now, the quantitative trading firm is leading Etched’s latest $700 million funding round at a $21 billion valuation. The round also included Kleiner Perkins, Sequoia, a16z, Tiger Global, Bain Capital Ventures, Blackstone, Stripes, Neo, Primary, and Positive Sum. Etched has now raised approximately $1.9 billion in total. Etched is building AI chips and full-scale inference clusters designed specifically for running AI models after they have been trained. Its technology focuses on increasing compute density and pooling memory across an entire rack, with the goal of delivering faster inference at a lower cost per watt. The company’s valuation has risen rapidly—from $5 billion in December, to $10.3 billion in July, and now $21 billion. Jane Street’s move from customer to lead investor also highlights growing investor interest in the infrastructure powering AI inference, not just the models themselves. To learn more about Etched, check out our Deep Dive Report via the link in bio. Sources: Etched, The Wall Street Journal Image Credit: Etched