Collaboration on design and development using 4nm process technology, with mass production targeted for Q1 2026

SEOUL, South Korea, Oct. 11, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- SEMIFIVE, a leading design solution provider and pioneer of platform-based custom silicon solutions, has announced the conclusion of a contract with HyperAccel to develop a generative AI chip, Bertha, for mass production. Bertha will be developed using  4nm process technology, and the mass production is targeted to commence in the first quarter of 2026.

HyperAccel has developed a LLM Processing Unit (LPU), an AI chip specifically designed for transformer-based Large Language Model (LLM). This is the world's first semiconductor LPU tailored for LLM inference, offering low cost, low latency, and domain-specific features. It is expected to replace existing high-cost and low-efficiency Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) with performance improvements of up to 2 times and a price/performance ratio that is 19 times better than that of a typical supercomputer.

SEMIFIVE specializes in SoC platforms and ASIC design solutions. The company focuses on developing expert SoC design platforms for AI chips these days with plans to expand its roadmap to respond to customer demand for AI custom silicon. To achieve this goal, SEMIFIVE is actively developing its SoC chiplet platform in collaboration with industry-leading partners.

"We are delighted to work with SEMIFIVE, a leading provider of SoC platforms and comprehensive ASIC design solutions, for the development of Bertha to be mass-produced," said Joo-Young Kim, CEO of HyperAccel. "By collaborating with SEMIFIVE , we are excited to offer customers AI semiconductors that provide more cost-effective and power-efficient LLM features than GPU platforms. This advancement will significantly reduce the operational expenses of data centers and expand our business scope to other industries that require LLMs."

"HyperAccel is a company with the most efficient and scalable LPU technology for LLMs. As the demand for LLM computation is skyrocketing, HyperAccel has the potential to become a new powerhouse in the global processor infrastructure," said Brandon Cho, CEO and co-founder of SEMIFIVE. "We are extremely excited to be the production partner for HyperAccel's groundbreaking Bertha chip, and we are thrilled to contribute to yet another innovative success story built on the SEMIFIVE platform."

About SEMIFIVE

SEMIFIVE is the pioneer of platform based SoC design, working with customers to implement innovative ideas into custom silicon in the most efficient way. Our SoC platforms offer a powerful springboard for new chip designs and leverage configurable domain-specific architectures and pre-validated key IP pools. We offer comprehensive spec-to-system capabilities with end-to-end solutions so that custom SoCs can be realized faster, with reduced cost and risks for key applications such as data center or AI-enabled IoT. With a strong partnership with Samsung Foundry as a leading SAFE^TM DSP partner, as well as the larger ecosystem, SEMIFIVE provides a one-stop shop solution for any SoC design needs. For more information, please visit www.semifive.com.