
By burning the transformer architecture into our chips, we’re creating the world’s most powerful servers for transformer inference.

By burning the transformer architecture into our chips, we’re creating the world’s most powerful servers for transformer inference.
What they do: Designs AI chips (Sohu) optimized for transformer-model inference
Stage / funding: Series A (announced Jun 25, 2024), reported ~$120M round; total funding reported $625.4M
Founded: Around 2022
Team size: Approximately 317 employees
| Company |
|---|
AI inference performance and efficiency for transformer models
2022
Computer Hardware Manufacturing
$120,000,000
Round reported to include multiple institutional and angel participants
“Includes institutional VCs and prominent angel/backer participation (e.g., Two Sigma Ventures, Peter Thiel, Thomas Dohmke)”
About Etched Etched is building the world’s first AI inference system purpose-built for transformers, delivering over 10x higher performance and dramatically lower cost and latency than a B200. With Etched ASICs, you can build products that would be impossible with GPUs, like real-time video generation models and extremely deep and parallel chain-of-thought reasoning agents. Backed by hundreds of millions from top-tier investors and staffed by leading engineers, Etched is redefining the infrastructure layer for the fastest growing industry in history.
We’re seeking a hands-on Systems Bringup Technician to join our team and support the development, testing, and validation of our high-performance hardware systems. As an Systems Bringup Technician at Etched, you will work closely with electrical, systems, and firmware engineers to run tests, collect data, perform light debugging, and help keep our lab and test operations running smoothly. Your work will directly support rapid iteration and reliable validation of cutting-edge AI hardware.
Representative Projects
Set up, execute, and monitor hardware tests on prototype boards and systems. Follow test procedures, configure equipment, and collect accurate measurement data to support design validation and performance analysis.
Assist with light debugging and troubleshooting of electrical and system-level issues during bring-up and testing. Identify obvious faults, verify signals and connections, replace components or cables as needed, and clearly communicate findings to engineers.
You may be a good fit if you
Benefits
How We’re Different Etched believes in the Bitter Lesson. We think most of the progress in the AI field has come from using more FLOPs to train and run models, and the best way to get more FLOPs is to build model-specific hardware. Larger and larger training runs encourage companies to consolidate around fewer model architectures, which creates a market for single-model ASICs.
We are a fully in-person team in San Jose (Santana Row), and greatly value engineering skills. We do not have boundaries between engineering and research, and we expect all of our technical staff to contribute to both as needed.
Operate, maintain, and help manage lab equipment such as oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, power supplies, thermal chambers, and other test instrumentation. Ensure equipment is used safely and correctly during experiments.
Document test setups, procedures, results, and observations in a clear and organized manner so data can be easily reviewed and acted upon by the engineering team.
Collaborate closely with engineers across disciplines to support rapid iteration of hardware designs. Provide practical, hands-on feedback from testing to help improve reliability, test coverage, and overall system performance.