Rain AI, Backed by Sam Altman, Hires Ex-Apple Chip Expert for Hardware

Rain AI Recruits Apple Chip Executive to Lead Hardware Engineering

Rain AI, a burgeoning startup, has made waves by appointing a former Apple Inc. chip executive to spearhead its hardware engineering division. This marks the second significant hire for the company in just one month as it aims to revolutionize semiconductor design for artificial intelligence applications.

Jean-Didier Allegrucci, known for his pivotal role in developing processors that replaced Intel Corp. in Apple's iPhones and Macs, is now set to guide Rain AI’s efforts towards creating energy-efficient chips. Allegrucci will collaborate closely with lead architect Amin Firoozshahian, who joined the company after a five-year tenure at Meta Platforms Inc.

Supported by OpenAI co-founder Sam Altman and Y Combinator, Rain AI is part of a growing group of startups focused on pioneering new hardware for AI. The San Francisco-based company is investigating a technique known as in-memory compute, inspired by the human brain's information processing, to cut down on power consumption by processing data directly where it’s stored.

In this ambitious endeavor, Rain AI is in the company of industry giants like Intel, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., and Samsung Electronics Co., all of whom are exploring the potential of in-memory computing. Despite challenges related to economic feasibility and environmental impacts, the quest for more efficient chips remains critical to integrating AI into a broader array of devices.

Rain AI's CEO, William Passo, expressed confidence in the company's innovative approach: “Our novel compute-in-memory technology will help unlock the true potential of today’s generative AI models, and get us one step closer to running the fastest, cheapest, and most advanced AI models anywhere.”