Groq more than doubles valuation to $6.9 billion as investors bet on AI chips

Group 1 - Groq has raised $750 million, increasing its valuation to $6.9 billion in just over a year, reflecting strong investor interest in AI hardware [1][2] - The latest funding round was led by Disruptive, with significant contributions from Blackrock, Neuberger Berman, Deutsche Telekom Capital Partners, and a large U.S.-based mutual fund manager [2][3] - Groq specializes in AI inference chips, which are becoming increasingly important as the industry shifts focus from training-centric chips to those designed for inference [3] Group 2 - The company has secured a $1.5 billion commitment from Saudi Arabia to expand its AI chip delivery, with expected revenue of about $500 million from contracts in the country this year [4] - Groq's founder and CEO emphasized the importance of inference in the current AI era, aiming to build high-speed, low-cost infrastructure [4]