Japanese startup Preferred Networks is seeking to go public to mass-produce its chips, a reflection of the rising cost and scale needed to stay relevant in a global AI race. The Tokyo-based outfit, one of the country’s few closely held businesses with a billion-dollar valuation, is stepping up efforts to custom-design semiconductors tailored to run AI models. It plans to deliver the samples of its newest chips to customers in the first half of next year, CEO Daisuke Okanohara said in an interview Monday.
A commercial launch to corporate clients both at home and overseas is slated by December of 2027, he said, adding that the goal is to make the company profitable in three years, at which point the company will be ready to go public.
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