Pro Weekly: The Founders Challenging Nvidia

Earlier this week, we published The Information’s AI Chip Database for Pro subscribers, tracking the 18 (and counting) startups that are challenging Nvidia in the fast-growing market for the graphics processing units that power artificial intelligence. In total, these companies have raised over $6 billion in funding.

It’s a tall task to take on Nvidia—not to mention tech giants including Google, Amazon and Microsoft that are building their own AI chips—but the entrepreneurs who have founded these companies aren’t just anyone. Several are alumni of Nvidia itself or of another major chip company such as AMD. At least two of the founding groups previously ran and sold businesses to larger chip firms. Here’s a rundown: