AI chip startup Blaize goes public via $1.2B SPAC merger

Blaize Holdings Inc., a startup developing artificial intelligence chips optimized for power-efficiency, today announced that it will go public on the Nasdaq stock exchange. 

The listing will take the form of a SPAC merger. In such deals, investors create a so-called special-purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, and then take it public. This company then merges with a privately held startup, which gives the startup access to public markets without a traditional IPO.

The SPAC that merged with Blaize is called BurTech Acquisition Corp. It’s owned by the single-family office Burkhan World Investments. The deal valued Blaize at $1.2 billion and gives the chipmaker access to a $116 million convertible note, with $36 million in additional funding planned once the transaction closes.

El Dorado Hills, California-based Blaize previously raised more than $300 million from Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and other investors. Its flagship product is a system-on-chip called the Blaize 1600 that is optimized for machine learning workloads. According to the company, its processor can run AI models using less power than graphics cards.

An AI model comprises code snippets called neurons that each perform a relatively simple set of calculations. Those neurons exchange data with one another through software connections. An AI model’s neurons and connections can be represented as a graph, a data structure optimized to store information about collections of interconnected objects.

The Blaize 1600 is specifically designed to run AI models stored as graphs. According to the chipmaker, it can also run other workloads such as image processing algorithms. This means that developers can run an application’s AI and non-AI modules on the same processor instead of using two separate chips.

The 1600 speeds up processing by performing a large number of calculations in parallel, which is faster than carrying them out one after another. Blaize says that its chip performs parallelization across four levels of abstraction from an AI’s neurons down to the underlying instructions. Those are the low-level computing operations in which a chip expresses calculations.

Blaize offers its chip in multiple form factors. There’s the Pathfinder P1600, a module for powering connected devices that combines one 1600 with two Arm central processing units. The company also offers an accelerator card that makes it possible to build AI servers equipped with up to 24 of its chips.

The company lost $87.6 million during the 12 months ended Dec. 31, 2023, on $3.8 million in revenue. The company sees its sales picking up over time: It claims to have inked deals with several customers spanning multiple industries. 

According to TechCrunch, Blaize has a signed purchase order worth up to $104 million from an “unnamed EMEA defense entity.” The chipmaker also maintains a partnership with Denso Corp., a major auto parts supplier. Mercedes-Benz, meanwhile, has teamed up with it on an initiative to develop a partly autonomous driving system.

Now that it’s publicly traded, the chipmaker plans to expand its product portfolio with a focus on establishing a presence in more verticals. Blaize also plans to enhance the AI development and management software that it ships with its processors. It plans to partner with hardware manufacturers to support its commercialization efforts. 

Image: Blaize

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