South Korean AI chip developers Rebellions and Sapeon to merge

SK Telecom

12/06/2024 09:36

SEOUL, June 12 (Reuters) - South Korean AI chip
developers Rebellions Inc and Sapeon Korea Inc are pursuing a
merger, Sapeon parent SK Telecom Co  017670.KS  said on
Wednesday, in the latest attempt in South Korea to challenge
global AI chip leader Nvidia  NVDA.O  as a boom in artificial
intelligence continues. 
    The consolidation is aimed at winning the global AI
semiconductor market within the next two to three years, a
window of time South Korea must not miss as AI competition 
intensifies across the world, SK Telecom said in a statement. 
    The merged company will seek to gain a strong position in
neural processing units (NPUs) used in AI, with Rebellions
responsible for management of the merged entity. 
    AI chip startup Rebellions' ATOM chip, launched last year,
was the first NPU developed in South Korea to be used in a data
centre for a large language model (LLM) and entered mass
production this year. Sapeon unveiled its next-generation X330
AI chip in November last year. 
    Given the speed of AI penetration into various applications,
the merger is expected to be signed during the third quarter of
this year, and the combined company launched by the end of the
year, SK Telecom said. 
    

 (Reporting by Joyce Lee; editing by Jason Neely)
 ((joyce.lee@tr.com;))