Shanghai Biren Intelligent Technology Co. (Chinese: 壁仞科技; pinyin: Bìrèn Kējì) is a Chinese fabless semiconductor design company.[1][2] The company was founded in 2019 by Lingjie Xu and others, all of whom were previously employed at NVIDIA or Alibaba or ST.[3] Biren has advertised two general-purpose graphics processing units (GPGPUs), the BR100 and BR104.[4] Both cards are aimed at artificial intelligence and high-performance computing.[5]
 | |
| Industry | Semiconductors |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2019 |
| Founders | Lingjie Xu and others |
| Headquarters | , |
| Products | BR100, BR104 |
| Website | www |
| Biren Technology | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simplified Chinese | 上海壁仞科技股份有限公司 | ||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 上海壁仞科技股份有限公司 | ||||||
| |||||||
As a result of U.S sanctions effective in October 2022 regarding exportation of advanced computing devices and manufacturing materials, Biren's contracted semiconductor manufacturer Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) halted all manufacturing of the company's products.[6] In an apparent effort to get around a stipulation of the U.S. sanctions, Biren reportedly modified their BR100 GPU to be able to process less data, so that it would not qualify for restriction for its manufacturer, TSMC.[7][8]
After its sanction in October 2022, the company secured a 280 million USD pledge from Guangzhou government-backed investors.[9] In September 2024, the company hired an investment bank to begin its IPO tutoring process.[10]
U.S. sanctions
editIn October 2023, the United States Department of Commerce added Biren Technology to the Bureau of Industry and Security's Entity List.[11]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "China Chip Startup Biren Seeking Funds at $2.7 Billion Valuation". Bloomberg.com. 2022-03-28. Retrieved 2023-02-05.
- ^ "U.S. vs. China: The Race to Develop the Most Advanced Chips". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2023-02-05.
- ^ Lee, Jane Lanhee; Nellis, Stephen (2022-09-08). "Analysis: U.S. ban on Nvidia, AMD chips seen boosting Chinese rivals". Reuters. Retrieved 2023-02-05.
- ^ Shilov, Anton (2022-08-10). "Chinese Biren's New GPUs Have 77 Billion Transistors, 2 PFLOPS of AI Performance". Tom's Hardware. Retrieved 2023-02-05.
- ^ Peckham, Oliver (2022-08-23). "Chinese Startup Biren Details BR100 GPU". HPCwire. Retrieved 2023-02-05.
- ^ "TSMC Suspends Work for Chinese Chip Startup Amid US Curbs". Bloomberg.com. 2022-10-22. Retrieved 2023-02-05.
- ^ "Chinese chip designers slow down processors to dodge US sanctions". Financial Times. 2022-11-07. Retrieved 2023-02-05.
- ^ Dobberstein, Laura. "Chipmakers slow down products to evade US China ban". www.theregister.com. Retrieved 2023-02-05.
- ^ "China's AI Chipmaker Biren Wins $280 Million In Funding Pledge After US Sanction". Bloomberg.com. 2023-12-01. Retrieved 2024-10-31.
- ^ "US-sanctioned Chinese AI chip champion Biren plans IPO". South China Morning Post. 2024-09-12. Retrieved 2024-10-31.
- ^ "美更新对华芯片出口控制规定，你需要知道的四大要点". 美国之音 (in Chinese). 2023-10-18. Retrieved 2023-10-18.