In a significant development in the tech startup space, London-based Oriole Networks has secured a substantial £10 million seed funding. This funding round is set to propel the company’s mission of transforming the landscape of artificial intelligence (AI) training.
Addressing AI’s Energy Problem
One of the most pressing challenges facing AI development today is the substantial energy consumption associated with training and running AI models. Oriole Networks, a University College London (UCL) spin-out created in 2023, has found a way to address this issue. The company has developed a method to connect thousands of AI chips, which can train large language models (LLMs) up to a hundred times faster using only “a fraction” of the energy usually needed.
A Sustainable and Carbon-Efficient Approach
Oriole Networks’ novel approach harnesses the power of light and has already demonstrated significant technical performance improvements. The company’s CEO, James Regan, emphasized the critical need for new solutions that can address these challenges in a sustainable and carbon-efficient manner.
The Funding Round
The funding round for Oriole Networks was co-led by UCL Technology Fund, Clean Growth Fund, XTX Ventures, and Dorilton Ventures. Daniel Freeman, general partner at Dorilton Ventures, highlighted that over the last decade, compute performance has improved ten times faster than networking performance, making HPC environments highly network-constrained. He believes that Oriole’s approach can unlock the latent potential in existing infrastructure.
The Future of AI Training
With this funding, Oriole Networks is poised to revolutionize AI training efficiency. The company’s approach could unlock the latent potential in existing infrastructure and address the growing concerns over energy consumption and associated carbon emissions of LLMs. This radical approach to Net Zero innovation is exactly what is needed.