London-based startup Oriole Networks has secured a significant £10 million seed funding round to propel its mission of transforming the landscape of artificial intelligence (AI) training. The company aims to address one of the most pressing challenges facing AI development today: the substantial energy consumption associated with training and running AI models.
Improving AI efficiency
Oriole Networks, a spinout from University College London (UCL), is pioneering a groundbreaking solution to enhance the efficiency of AI model training. Led by CEO James Regan and co-founded by Professor George Zervas, the company has developed an innovative networking technology that promises to revolutionize the way GPUs—critical components in AI training—are connected.
The current standard for connecting GPUs involves the use of ethernet cables, which, despite significant advancements in GPU technology, have remained a bottleneck in AI model training. Oriole Networks’ solution leverages optical fibers and light beams to connect GPUs, dramatically increasing the speed at which information travels between them. This breakthrough technology, developed by Professor Zervas over two decades of research, has the potential to accelerate AI training by up to 100 times.
Reducing energy consumption
In addition to its speed advantages, Oriole’s optical networking solution offers a significant reduction in energy consumption compared to traditional Ethernet networks. According to Regan, the company’s technology has slashed network energy consumption to just 2-3% of that of a traditional system at the lab scale. By minimizing energy usage during AI model training, Oriole Networks aims to contribute to a more sustainable future for AI development.
Having licensed the technology from UCL, Oriole Networks is now focused on commercializing its product. The company’s intellectual property covers the physical architecture of the optical system and the machine-learning algorithms that enable its operation. Rather than selling entire supercomputers, Oriole plans to market its networking system to customers who can integrate it into their existing computing infrastructure. By outsourcing manufacturing to established network infrastructure companies, Oriole aims to streamline the production process and accelerate the availability of its technology to customers.
Future outlook
With the completion of product development on the horizon, Oriole Networks is poised to enter the market in the coming years. Regan estimates that it will take a couple of years to finalize the development and testing phases before the technology is ready for commercial deployment. Despite ongoing efforts by other companies, such as Google’s Mission Apollo project, Oriole remains confident in the superiority of its optical networking technology, citing its potential for greater speed and cost-effectiveness.
As the demand for AI continues to grow across various industries, addressing the energy consumption associated with AI model training is paramount. Oriole Networks’ innovative approach to optimizing GPU connectivity offers a promising solution to this challenge. With its recent funding round and plans for commercialization, the startup is well-positioned to make a significant impact on the efficiency and sustainability of AI development. As the company moves forward with its mission, the future of AI training looks brighter than ever before.
