FILE PHOTO: 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) -U.S. semiconductor startup Groq said on Monday it has secured a $1.5 billion commitment from Saudi Arabia to expand the delivery of its advanced AI chips to the country.
The Silicon Valley firm, founded by a former Alphabet AI chip engineer, is known for producing AI inference chips that optimize speed and execute commands of pre-trained models.
The startup has an existing agreement with Aramco Digital, the technology subsidiary of oil major Aramco, through which the companies built a critical AI hub in the region in December.
Groq told Reuters it will receive funds over the course of this year to expand its existing data center in Dammam. The company's chips, which specialize in fast responses from chatbots and other large language models, are subject to U.S. export controls, but Groq said it has obtained the licenses it needs to ship them to Dammam.
The commitment was announced at Saudi's global technology event, LEAP 2025. At this event, the country secured $14.9 billion in fresh AI investments.
One of the technologies that the Dammam data center will support is an AI technology called Allam, an AI language model that works in both Arabic and English and was developed by the Saudi government.
In August, Groq clinched a valuation of $2.8 billion after raising $640 million in a funding round led by Cisco Investments, Samsung Catalyst Fund and BlackRock Private Equity Partners.
(Reporting by Deborah Sophia in Bengaluru and Stephen Nellis in San Francisco; Editing by Mohammed Safi Shamsi and Marguerita Choy)
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