Japan picks Tenstorrent to train engineers in leading-edge AI

Startups | November 5, 2024

By Peter Clarke

AI chip developer Tenstorrent (Toronto, Canada) has been commissioned by the Japanese government to provide five-years of training in leading-edge AI for up to 200 engineers.

The training program will take place over the next five years in the US and at Japan’s Leading-edge Semiconductor Technology Center (LSTC). It is one of a number of steps being paid for by the Japanese taxpayer to try and get the country back up to world-class in the chip design and manufacturing.

Tenstorrent is already helping to design an AI accelerator for implementation on 2nm silicon and working with Japan’s startup 2nm wafer fab, Rapidus.

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The program is being run under the auspices of Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI). Tenstorrent will partner with leading Japanese technology companies and Japan’s top universities to select program participants to join the program.

Tenstorrent did not indicate how much funding it would receive from METI but it is possible that Tenstorrent gets the use of a cohort of engineers, selected for their variety of experience, while the salaries, living and transport costs are paid for by the Japanese government.

The company will bring up to 200 silicon engineers from Japan to the US to work on AI and machine learning technology over the course of five years. Tenstorrent said that part of this body of engineers-in-training will return to Japan and form a CPU development team for Tenstorrent in Japan. Others will return to their original companies with in-depth knowledge of Tenstorrent products and engineering philosophy.

The Japanese engineers will have the opportunity to work on Tenstorrent’s Ascalon RISC-V and Tensix IP and AI and high-performance computing software stacks.

“This program is truly the first of its kind, not just for Tenstorrent, but for Japan as well,” said David Bennett, chief customer officer at Tenstorrent. “It’s a true honor to spearhead such an innovative program with the Japanese government and continue to cultivate our ecosystem in their country. Not only are we getting the opportunity to nurture the next generation of Japan’s brightest engineers, but on a broader scope, we are helping Japan revitalize their silicon industry and technology leadership.”

“I am very pleased to see Tenstorrent’s continued impact in Japan,” said Tetsuro Higashi, chairman of LSTC. “This is a groundbreaking program between Tenstorrent and Japan, and sending Japan’s top engineers to become experts in Tenstorrent’s technology will be pivotal in growing their ecosystem and propelling forward our efforts here as we build our edge 2nm AI accelerator in partnership with them.”