I’ve been talking about the hardware renaissance that’s beginning to take shape around here. You see, as AI computing resources become more and more scarce, I hypothesize that we’re going to see people working to advance the technology to make things more efficient and effective. And a local startup helmed by Intel alums is definitely running that playbook. AheadComputing just raised $30 million bringing it to $53 million raised in total.

AI workloads are reshaping compute across hyperscale data centers, workstations, PCs, and high-end embedded systems. While GPU performance is taking center stage, CPU performance remains essential for AI workloads, yet is often overlooked as a critical component of overall system capability. Industry forecasts predict that 70% of all data center workloads will be AI workloads by 2030, and a high-performance CPU is essential to the efficient execution of these workloads. The AI workload mix is shifting towards inference and agentic AI workloads, making higher per-core CPU performance an industry priority.

“Our team of system architects and engineers, with over 1000 years of combined CPU design experience, continues to push CPU performance forward and beyond the boundaries of traditional CPU innovation,” said Debbie Marr, CEO and co-founder of AheadComputing. “This additional funding will allow us to continue to challenge traditional rules and sustain a fast pace of transformation and develop the fastest high-performance, general-purpose CPU because everybody deserves better compute.”

But they’re not stopping there. In AheadComputing’s estimation, “everyone deserves a better computer.” And it’s nice to see that happening right here in Portland.

For more, visit AheadComputing.