Nvidia-Backed Upscale AI Launches Token Fabric to Link AI Chips From Rival Suppliers
Upscale AI launched Token Fabric on Thursday, a networking platform designed to connect AI processors from different suppliers in one data center, as the $2 billion startup targets cloud builders seeking to mix hardware from multiple vendors.
Upscale AI, a startup valued at $2 billion in June, on Thursday launched a networking platform intended to let customers build data centers that mix AI chips from different suppliers, according to Reuters.
The platform, called Token Fabric, combines hardware and software to connect AI processors across a facility so customers do not have to assemble separate networking systems on their own, according to Reuters. The goal, according to the company as reported by Reuters, is to keep costly processors working instead of waiting for data, so operators can get more use from hardware they have already bought.
Built for operators mixing suppliers
Upscale is aiming the product at newer cloud operators, known as neoclouds, and at large cloud providers that are expanding data centers and want to use processors from more than one supplier, according to Reuters. Reuters reported that the system combines Upscale’s own networking chips with equipment using Nvidia’s Spectrum-X technology, along with software meant to spot bottlenecks and flag equipment that may need to be replaced.
Chief Executive Barun Kar told Reuters he expects Token Fabric revenue next year in the tens of millions of dollars, with a possible path to the low hundreds of millions. The first part of the platform, which links groups of processors within a data center, is planned for release in the fourth quarter, with the full system rolling out in stages through 2027, according to Reuters.
Backing and funding
Reuters reported that Upscale’s backers include Nvidia, Salesforce and Singapore state investor Temasek. In June the company raised a $190 million extension to its early-stage funding round, bringing its total raised to $500 million, in a financing led by Premji Invest, the investment firm of Indian billionaire Azim Premji, according to Reuters.
The launch comes as data center operators face rising costs for power, financing and hardware, and as networking — the links that move data between processors — becomes a larger factor in whether expensive AI systems run efficiently.
Reporting based on coverage by Reuters.
