In This Article:
Anyone alive in the mid-2000s remembers an era in which Facebook, not yet Meta Platforms (META) , dominated Silicon Valley. Startup entrepreneurs worked tirelessly to have their companies acquired by Zuckerberg.
In his 2019 book Bitcoin Billionaires, Ben Mezrich details Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss's challenges when they attempted to launch a venture capital firm in Zuckerberg’s Silicon Valley. The brothers quickly found that even cash-strapped startups were afraid to do business with them for missing out on an offer from Facebook’s founder.
Years later, Meta Platforms’ reputation has taken some hits. However, through it all, the company has maintained its dominance in the tech world, partially due to its habit of buying up any competitors.
It may be hard to imagine anyone saying no to Zuckerberg. But recently, an artificial intelligence (AI) startup shocked the tech world as it did exactly that.
AI chipmaker doesn’t want to do business with Meta
Unless you follow the South Korean tech startup scene, you might not be familiar with a company called FuriosaAI. But Zuckerberg certainly is, and his company recently offered to spend a lot of money to acquire it.
Founded in 2017 and based in Seoul, South Korea, FuriosaAI builds chips for a wide range of AI applications and counts LG AI Research and Saudi Aramco among its customers. According to reports, Meta has been looking to acquire it since February, likely seeing it as a strategic way of expanding its own AI chip production.
Related: Meta Platforms leaked emails reveal fierce AI rivalry
Unfortunately for Zuckerberg, FuriosaAI has opted against accepting Meta’s $810 million offer, which likely surprised many. Most early-stage startups don’t reject a large buyout offer from an industry leader, but the company is clearly focused on scaling its own operations.
This is likely a blow to Meta, who is highly focused on building its own AI chips to compete in an increasingly competitive market. As TechCrunch reports:
“Along with other tech companies building large language models (LLMs) for various AI applications, Meta has been trying to reduce its reliance on Nvidia for chips that are specialized for training and building LLMs. The tech giant last year unveiled its custom AI chips, and in January said it would invest up to $65 billion this year to support its AI initiatives.”
So far, the little-known startup hasn’t issued any statements on its decision to reject the Meta offer or offered context as to the logic behind it. The company is not well known outside of South Korea, but Meta's interest is a good endorsement for its products, as the leading tech company could have attempted to buy any AI chip startup.