Development of Highly Efficient NPUs as Alternatives to GPUs
FuriosaAI and Rebellions Lead the Market
Chips for Autonomous Vehicles, Drones, and Humanoids
DeepX Emerges as a Major On-Device AI Player
The global artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductor market is experiencing rapid growth. At the center of this expansion are NVIDIA's GPUs, which process large volumes of data in parallel. As a result, vendors such as SK Hynix and TSMC, which supply components to NVIDIA, are expected to benefit. However, with the U.S. government imposing restrictions on GPU exports, countries around the world are now focusing on fostering their own AI semiconductor companies.
Independent research firm ARIS, in its report "How Domestic AI Semiconductors Can Survive in Global Competition," noted that South Korean AI semiconductor companies are seeking opportunities in NPUs (Neural Processing Units) and on-device AI, rather than competing directly with NVIDIA-dominated GPUs. The report introduced FuriosaAI and Rebellions as leading NPU companies, and DeepX as a key player in on-device AI.
NPUs are specialized for AI computations, offering lower power consumption compared to GPUs and evolving to optimize inference tasks. On-device AI refers to performing computations directly on individual devices, such as smartphones and autonomous vehicles, rather than relying on data centers.
FuriosaAI: Korea's First AI Semiconductor Unicorn
FuriosaAI drew attention in March when news broke that Meta, the parent company of Facebook, was pursuing an acquisition. The company specializes in designing and developing high-performance, low-power NPUs. Founded in 2017, FuriosaAI launched its first-generation chip, WARBOY, in 2023 and its second-generation chip, RNGD (Renegade), in 2024.
RNGD, which supports efficient inference for large language models (LLMs) and multimodal models, has proven its effectiveness by securing a supply contract for LG's large-scale language model, EXAONE 4.0. Last year, FuriosaAI also signed a mass production supply agreement for AI chips for data center servers with ASUS, a leading PC and server manufacturer in Taiwan.
Key investors include Korea Development Bank and DSC Investment. Among unlisted venture companies, FuriosaAI has become a representative unicorn, with a corporate value exceeding 1 trillion won.
Rebellions: Fastest-Growing Korean Startup, According to Forbes
Rebellions, founded in 2020, is a company specializing in NPU design. At the end of last year, it was decided that Rebellions would merge with Sapeon, a subsidiary of SK Telecom. Just one year after its founding, in 2021, Rebellions released its first AI semiconductor, ION, followed by ATOM for data centers in 2023. ATOM is currently used in KT Cloud's NPU services and is being commercialized as Korea's first B2C model. The next-generation NPU, Rebel-Quad, which integrates four processing units on a single board, is scheduled for mass production by the end of this year.
Looking ahead, Rebellions plans to continue participating in national AI consortiums and cloud businesses, leveraging partnerships with major domestic telecom operators SK Telecom and KT.
Major investors include SK Telecom, KT, and Saudi Aramco. The company's most recent valuation is approximately 1.5 trillion won.
DeepX: A Key Player in the On-Device AI Era
Founded in 2018, DeepX began mass production of its first-generation edge AI semiconductor, DX-M1, this year. Last month, DeepX formed a partnership with Baidu's PaddlePaddle. After being applied to Baidu's AI optical character and image recognition model, PR-OCR, the chip is also expected to be used in drones and robots.
The next-generation DX-M2 aims to double power efficiency compared to the previous model. Prototype production is planned for next year, with mass production scheduled for 2027.
DeepX has attracted attention by securing investment from domestic private equity funds established by former Samsung Electronics executives, such as Skylake and BNW. Recently, DeepX was valued at 1.3 trillion won (1 billion dollars) by a foreign investment bank, making its unicorn status highly likely.
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