AI chip firm Cerebras wins $45M from DARAPA to speed up chip connections

By Matthew Griffin Computing 10th September 2025

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF

There are still a lot of inefficiencies and bottlenecks in computer chips so this new funding is aimed at creating even better faster AI chips.

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As companies look to accelerate every part of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) development pipeline wafer-scale chip designer Cerebras Systems – who makes dinner sized AI chips and some of the world’s fastest AI supercomputers – and Canadian silicon photonics firm Ranovus have been awarded a $45 million contract from DARPA to reduce AI-related compute bottleneck challenges.

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In a statement announcing the project, the two companies said they will “solve the communication bottleneck” by integrating Ranovus’ advanced co-packaged optics interconnects with Cerebras wafer-sized semiconductors.

Under the terms of the initiative, Cerebras and Ranovus are expected to deliver “the industry-first wafer-scale photonic interconnect solution” that would enable “compute performance impossible to achieve today” using a “fraction of the power consumed by GPUs tied together with traditional switches.”

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The project will support DARPA’s Digital RF Battlespace Emulator (DRBE) program, which explores novel computing architectures to create a “new breed” of high-performance computing, dubbed “Real Time HPC,” which will boost computational throughput whilst maintaining extremely low latency.

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Cerebras is also involved with the DRBE program and is currently executing the third phase by delivering a leading-edge RF emulation supercomputer.

“By combining wafer scale technology and co-packaged optics interconnects, Cerebras will deliver a platform capable of real-time, high-fidelity simulations for the most challenging physical environment simulations and the largest scale AI workloads, pushing the boundaries of what is possible in AI and in high performance computing and AI,” said Andrew Feldman, co-founder and CEO of Cerebras.

Cerebras Systems develops wafer-scale chips, with its Wafer Scale Engine 3 boasting four trillion transistors and 900,000 ‘AI cores,’ alongside 44GB of on-chip SRAM. Sold as part of the CS-3 system, the company claims the chip is capable of 125 peak AI petaflops.

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In August 2024, Cerebras confidentially filed for an IPO with the SEC – although share price and expected market cap have yet to be revealed.

Matthew Griffin / About Author

Described by NASA as a "Walking Encyclopaedia of the Future" and one of the world’s most in demand keynote speakers Matthew Griffin, Founder and Futurist in Chief of the 311 Institute, a global Futures and Deep Futures advisory firm, is a multi-award winning Futurist and strategic foresight expert, author, lecturer, mentor, podcast and YouTube host.

With a distinguished career running global business units at Atos, EMC, and IBM today Matthew helps leaders and titans of industry from all over the world explore the impact of the inter sections of technology, culture, and leadership, then helps them create high performance organisations that can continuously disrupt, outpace, and outthink their competition.

15 times author of the hit series the Codex of the Future series Matthew's ability to identify, track, and explain the impacts of hundreds of emerging technologies and trends on global business, culture, and society has earned him a powerful reputation and a roster of clients that include royal households, world leaders across the G7, G20, and G77, and many of the world's most recognised and exceptional organisations including ABB, Accenture, ABN Amro, Adidas, AON, ARM, BCG, Centrica, Citi Group, Coca Cola, Deloitte, Dentons, Disney, Dow, EY, Google, KPMG, Lego, Microsoft, Legal & General, LinkedIn, Nokia, Paramount, PepsiCo, PWC, Qualcomm, RWE, Samsung, T-Mobile, UBS, Visa, WIRED, WPP and hundreds of others.

Matthew is regularly featured in the global media including the AP, BBC, Bloomberg, CNBC, Discovery, Forbes, Khaleej Times, Telegraph, TIME, ViacomCBS, WIRED, and the WSJ, and his mission is to help organisations create a fair and sustainable future whose benefits are shared by everyone irrespective of their ability, background, or circumstances.