Celestial AI Secures $250 Million to Enhance AI Chip Connectivity

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Silicon Valley-based startup Celestial AI has raised an additional $250 million in venture capital, bringing its total funding to $515 million. The company aims to accelerate AI computing by leveraging photonics—a technology that uses light instead of electrical signals—to enhance the speed of data transfer between AI processing and memory chips.

Memory bandwidth, which determines the efficiency of AI systems, is a crucial factor in chip performance and a key consideration in U.S. government export controls aimed at limiting China’s AI capabilities. Currently, Nvidia dominates this space with its proprietary NVLink and NVSwitch technologies, prompting a surge in investments to develop alternative solutions. Celestial AI’s competitors, Lightmatter and Ayar Labs, have raised $850 million and $370 million, respectively, in similar efforts.

Celestial AI is backed by AMD Ventures, the investment arm of Nvidia’s competitor Advanced Micro Devices (AMD). The company is working on a “photonic fabric” that acts as a high-speed bridge between multiple chips. According to CEO Dave Lazovsky, the technology improves efficiency by reducing energy consumption and latency while saving valuable chip space.

“There are no good answers outside of Nvidia,” Lazovsky said in an interview at Celestial AI’s headquarters in Santa Clara, California. “What we’ve created with photonic fabric achieves similar functionality but with superior energy efficiency and lower latency.”

The funding round was led by Fidelity Management & Research and included BlackRock, Maverick Capital, Tiger Global Management, and former Cadence Design Systems CEO Lip-Bu Tan. Existing investors such as AMD Ventures, Koch Disruptive Technologies, Singapore’s state investor Temasek, and Porsche Automobil Holding also participated.

Coinbase Registers with Indian Financial Watchdog to Offer Crypto Trading

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Coinbase Global, the U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchange, has registered with India’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), paving the way for its entry into the Indian crypto market. This registration allows Coinbase to offer crypto trading services in compliance with India’s financial regulations. The company announced on Tuesday that it plans to launch initial retail services later this year, with further investments and product offerings to follow, though a specific timeline has not been disclosed.

India has seen a surge in cryptocurrency interest, particularly among young investors eager to explore digital assets as an alternative income source. Local crypto exchanges such as CoinDCX, Binance, and KuCoin already operate in the country.

“India represents one of the most exciting market opportunities in the world today, and we’re proud to deepen our investment here in full compliance with local regulations,” said John O’Loghlen, Coinbase’s regional managing director for Asia Pacific.

Under Indian law, virtual digital asset service providers, including crypto exchanges, must register with the FIU as reporting entities and adhere to the country’s anti-money laundering regulations. While India imposes a 30% tax on crypto trading gains—one of the highest globally—it has yet to establish comprehensive regulations for the sector.

The government’s stance on cryptocurrencies is under review, influenced by evolving global regulations and recent U.S. policy changes, particularly following Donald Trump’s presidential victory last year. A senior official indicated last month that India is closely monitoring international trends before finalizing its approach to crypto regulation.

Call of Duty 2025 May Still Arrive on PS4 and Xbox One Despite Next-Gen Focus

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Call of Duty 2025 Could Still Be Released on PS4 and Xbox One Despite Next-Gen Focus

The Call of Duty franchise has long been known for its wide platform releases, and the upcoming Call of Duty 2025 might continue this tradition by launching on both current-generation and older consoles. The most recent title, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, released in October 2024 across multiple platforms, including PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X, and PC. While many other triple-A games have moved exclusively to next-gen consoles, Call of Duty games have typically been available on a broad range of systems. Now, reports suggest that Call of Duty 2025 might follow suit.

According to a report from the popular Call of Duty news channel CharlieIntel, sources close to the game’s development indicate that Call of Duty 2025 could still be launched on PS4 and Xbox One. While it’s surprising that a game in 2025 might support these older consoles, especially given the industry’s shift toward newer hardware, the game is apparently being developed for both the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. CharlieIntel shared this information on X (formerly Twitter), noting that although Activision has not yet officially confirmed the game’s platforms, it is likely that the title will continue to support these legacy systems due to their substantial active user bases.

The decision to support older consoles in 2025 is a significant one, considering that many game developers have phased out support for last-gen systems as new hardware becomes more common. However, with the PS4 having sold over 117 million units as of August 2024 and maintaining around 49 million monthly active users, it’s clear why Activision might opt to release the next Call of Duty game across a broad range of consoles. The Xbox One, though having sold about 58 million units, still boasts a sizable player base, though specific monthly active user statistics are not as widely available.

As Call of Duty has traditionally catered to a wide audience, this move makes sense from a business standpoint, as it would ensure the game remains accessible to a large pool of players who have yet to upgrade to the latest consoles. While there’s still no official confirmation from Activision, it seems increasingly likely that Call of Duty 2025 will be available across both the new and older generation of consoles when it launches.