OpenAI acquired an undisclosed number of patents from Rain AI following failed negotiations to buy the company outright. Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, previously backed the chip startup. The financial terms of the patent deal remain private.
Rain AI has nearly ceased operations and lost most of its staff after the acquisition talks collapsed. The startup launched in 2017 to develop energy-efficient neuromorphic processors.
The patent deal supports OpenAI’s strategy to develop custom hardware and reduce its dependency on Nvidia. Rain AI signed a non-binding agreement in 2019 for OpenAI to purchase $51 million in chips. The startup never delivered the hardware.