Etched, founded in 2022 and based in San Jose, California, designs Sohu, an inference chip built only for transformer models. In August 2026 it raised $700 million at a $21 billion valuation, led by Jane Street, weeks after a $300 million Series C at $10.3 billion.
At a glance
| Price from | Not public |
| Best for | AI companies serving transformer models at scale |
From Etched's own website.
What stands out
- Highest valuation on this list
- Early customer running its own rack
Worth knowing
- Runs transformer models only
- Early commercial stage
How it ranks
Etched is ranked 2nd of 10 in Best AI Chip Startups (Lister Score 95.6).
#2 in Best AI Chip Startups · Lister Score 95.6
Jane Street has tested Sohu and runs its own Etched rack in its data centre, according to Yahoo Finance..
| Rank | Best AI Chip Startups | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | SambaNova Systems | 96.8 |
| 2 | Etched | 95.6 |
| 3 | Tenstorrent | 94.4 |
| 4 | Positron AI | 93.1 |
| 5 | MatX | 91.9 |
| 6 | Rebellions | 90.6 |
| 7 | Lightmatter | 89.3 |
| 8 | d-Matrix | 88.0 |
| 9 | FuriosaAI | 86.7 |
| 10 | Axelera AI | 85.4 |
Frequently asked questions
How does Etched rank on Lister?
Etched is ranked 2nd of 10 in Best AI Chip Startups (Lister Score 95.6).
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