AI chip startup Groq valued at $2.8 billion after latest funding round

Close up of the GroqNode product by Silicon Valley AI chip startup Groq, in Mountain View, California, U.S., July, 2022. Groq Inc./Mark Heaps/Handout via REUTERS / File Photo

(Reuters) - Semiconductor startup Groq said on Monday it has raised $640 million in a Series D funding round led by Cisco Investments, Samsung Catalyst Fund and BlackRock Private Equity Partners, among others, bringing its valuation to $2.8 billion.

The Silicon Valley firm, founded by a former Alphabet engineer, specializes in producing AI inference chips - a type of semiconductor that optimizes speed and executes commands of pre-trained models.