Lumai, a start-up specialising in systems that accelerate AI execution capability using optical technologies to address global computational challenges, gets an investment of more than USD 10 million. Lumai’s revolutionary optical computing technology will help data centres drastically reduce costs and improve the performance of artificial intelligence models, while reducing energy consumption.
The funding round was led by Constructor Capital, a VC that works with visionary founders to build cutting-edge deeptech companies. Also participating in the round were IP Group, Photon Ventures, Journey Ventures, LIFTT, Qubit Ventures and State Farm Ventures, and TIS . Lumai will use this investment to support its next phase of growth by advancing product development, doubling the number of employees, and expanding its presence in the US.
This investment comes at a crucial time for the industry, as increasingly energy-hungry AI models and the race towards general artificial intelligence (AGI) are pushing computing on silicon to its limits. With data centre energy consumption in the US set to triple by 2028, reaching 12 per cent of the country’s entire energy needs (source: Report from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory), now is the time to address performance and sustainability challenges.
Founded as a spin-off from the University of Oxford, Lumai is addressing the limits of AI computing by using optical processing to accelerate large language models (LLM) and other transformer-based artificial intelligence models. Its technology performs the fundamental arithmetic operations of AI within optical beams travelling in three-dimensional space, circumventing the limitations of silicon GPUs and embedded photonics. Through the use of low-cost optical components, the PCIe system enables cost-effective, high-performance AI algorithm processing, positioning Lumai as a key player in the future of AI.
The company’s system will reduce the cost of running AI inference processes to one-tenth of the best solutions available today. Lumai’s unique design will offer 50 times more performance than silicon-only accelerators, using only 10 per cent of the energy required for AI in data centres, thus lowering both capital and total cost of ownership.
Tim Weil, CEO and co-founder of Lumai, (pictured with the team) comments in a note: ‘The future of AI requires radical advances in computing. The cost of current LLMs is unsustainable, and next-generation AI will not be able to develop without significant change. Lumai’s innovative optical computation design overcomes the scalability challenges that have held others back and dramatically reduces power consumption, thus lowering the cost of AI.”
“Human intelligence is derived from a neural network honed over more than two billion years,” says Serg Bell, founder and chairman of Constructor Capital. “Fossil fuels are a by-product of this evolution and may not generate enough energy to create a better model if we continue to use electron-based computing. We need more efficient and faster energy sources for the next generation of humanity’s neocortex: general artificial intelligence. Photons are the only known choice. Lumai’s technology is a significant step forward in improving matrix multiplication, similar to the advances that quantum computers offer for other computational scenarios’.
Pierluigi Freni, project manager at LIFTT, adds: ‘We are proud to be the first in Italy to support Lumai and the incredible technology it has been able to develop to date. With this deal, we consolidate our confidence in innovative solutions in the Future of Computing. The impact Lumai will have in the world of Artificial Intelligence will be revolutionary, as it will improve performance, reduce the cost in terms of money and resources, and make this technology sustainable in the long run.
Lee Thornton, deeptech partner at IP Group, says: “Having solved the challenges of optical computing to deliver a scalable, low-cost solution, Lumai’s technology has the potential to transform the future of AI. We are proud to continue supporting Lumai as it embarks on the next phase of its journey.”
‘Lumai doesn’t just innovate, it radically reshapes the future of AI compute,’ notes Ewit Roos, general partner of PhotonVentures. ‘Lumai presents one of the most exciting opportunities in next-generation data centre technology, positioning itself at the forefront of the AI revolution.
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