AIvengo > Reviews > AI chip startup Groq raises $1.5B from Saudi Arabia

AI chip startup Groq raises $1.5B from Saudi Arabia

American semiconductor startup Groq announced Monday it has received investment commitments of $1.5B from Saudi Arabia to expand advanced AI chip supplies to the kingdom.

The Silicon Valley company, founded by a former Alphabet AI chip engineer, specializes in manufacturing AI inference microchips optimized for high-speed execution of pre-trained model commands. The investment will be directed toward expanding Groq’s existing data center in Dammam, established in December 2024 in collaboration with Aramco Digital, the technology division of oil giant Aramco.

Groq chips’ uniqueness lies in their ability to provide fast responses for chatbots and other large language models. Despite current US export restrictions, the company has obtained necessary licenses to supply equipment to Dammam.

The funding announcement was made at the LEAP 2025 global technology event in Saudi Arabia, where the country attracted a total of $14.9B in new AI investments. The Dammam data center is expected to support Allam – a Saudi government-developed AI model capable of working with both Arabic and English languages.

This funding follows a successful investment round in August, when Groq reached a $2.8B valuation, raising $640M led by Cisco Investments, Samsung Catalyst Fund, and BlackRock Private Equity Partners.

This agreement reflects the growing trend of AI technology market globalization and Middle Eastern countries’ aspiration for technological leadership through strategic investments in advanced developments.

Autor: AIvengo

For 5 years I have been working with machine learning and artificial intelligence. And this field never ceases to amaze, inspire and interest me.

UBTech will send Walker S2 robots to serve on China's border for $37 million

Chinese company UBTech won a contract for $37 million. And will send humanoid robots Walker S2 to serve on China's border with Vietnam. South China Morning Post reports that the robots will interact with tourists and staff, perform logistics operations, inspect cargo and patrol the area. And characteristically — they can independently change their battery.

Anthropic accidentally revealed an internal document about Claude's "soul"

Anthropic accidentally revealed the "soul" of artificial intelligence to a user. And this is not a metaphor. This is a quite specific internal document.

Jensen Huang ordered Nvidia employees to use AI everywhere

Jensen Huang announced total mobilization under the banner of artificial intelligence inside Nvidia. And this is no longer a recommendation. This is a requirement.

AI chatbots generate content that exacerbates eating disorders

A joint study by Stanford University and the Center for Democracy and Technology showed a disturbing picture. Chatbots with artificial intelligence pose a serious risk to people with eating disorders. Scientists warn that neural networks hand out harmful advice about diets. They suggest ways to hide the disorder and generate "inspiring weight loss content" that worsens the problem.

OpenAGI released the Lux model that overtakes Google and OpenAI

Startup OpenAGI released the Lux model for computer control and claims this is a breakthrough. According to benchmarks, the model overtakes analogues from Google, OpenAI and Anthropic by a whole generation. Moreover, it works faster. About 1 second per step instead of 3 seconds for competitors. And 10 times cheaper in cost per processing 1 token.