Cisco to acquire silicon photonics chip maker Luxtera for $660 million – TechCrunch

As networks get put under increasing pressure from ever-growing amounts of data, network equipment manufacturers are facing huge challenges to increase data transmissions speeds over further distances. As a premiere networking equipment company, Cisco wants to be prepared to meet that demand. Today, it opened up its checkbook and announced its intent to acquire Luxtera…

AI chip startup Graphcore closes $200M Series D, adds BMW and Microsoft as strategic investors – TechCrunch

UK AI chip startup Graphcore has announced a $200 million Series D round today that’s jointly led by an existing investor, European VC Atomico, along with new investor Sofina, an investment holding firm. Graphcore says the Series D values the company at $1.7BN. We’ve confirmed the valuation is $1.5BN before including the new capital raised. We’re also…