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Why the first GPU financiers are turning to inference chips in a $400 million deal

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1 month ago

July 17, 2026

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General Compute, an AI inference cloud startup, has landed a $400 million loan from Upper90, a tech investment firm. It might be the first deal to put up inference-specific chips as collateral — chips built to run already-trained AI models quickly and efficiently, rather than the more expensive chips used to build the models in the first place.

The financing is the latest signal that markets are responding to concerns over the price of AI tools and tokens by turning to infrastructure that runs open-source models more cheaply than the newest LLMs from frontier labs.

Founded by CEO Finn Puklowski, General Compute raised a $15 million seed round in May to build an inference neocloud around silicon from SambaNova, an Intel-backed chipmaker. (Neoclouds are purpose-built for AI workloads, unlike the general-purpose infrastructure offered by traditional hyperscalers like AWS or Azure.)

The company’s SN50 chips are designed for inference. They’re power-efficient and don’t require expensive water-cooling systems, which means they can be deployed more quickly than GPUs across a larger variety of data centers. General Compute says the new chips will provide 16 times faster inference than GPU-based clouds.

The challenge is getting a lot of these chips, especially when you’re a brand-new company.

Upper90 co-founder and CEO Billy Libby, a former Goldman Sachs quantitative trader, had a playbook for this: In 2021, his firm financed GPU purchases by Crusoe, the energy-focused data center startup, which he believes was the first loan against the value of advanced chips.

Traditional lenders eschewed such deals at the time because of the risks and uncertainties around GPU depreciation. But as CoreWeave made chips-backed loans into a business model and then the basis of a blockbuster IPO, this kind of financing has become common.

“When we financed Nvidia GPUs as the first group to do that, the market was inefficient,” Libby told TechCrunch. “We could really put together something as an early participant, and kind of get compensated for the risk.”

Now that GPUs are comparatively well understood and perhaps over-bought, Upper90 is turning to companies like General Compute to ride the next wave of the AI boom. “We think open source models are going to be important, and we went and looked for a player last year that was in inference,” Libby said. “Everyone doesn’t need a supercomputer, but they do need inference and AI.”

That thesis has been growing stronger, with companies that provide access to open models, like OpenRouter and Fireworks, raising new rounds at huge valuations. New models like Kimi’s K3, recently just this week, have proven to compete with the latest releases from Anthropic and OpenAI on coding benchmarks. And new chipmakers like Groq and Cerebras have drawn interest from acquirers and public markets alike.

General Compute’s ability to access chips outside of Nvidia’s ecosystem matters for the same reason. TensorWave, another AI infrastructure company, is making a similar bet on a partnership with AMD. As more alternatives to Nvidia emerge, compute providers that aren’t locked into Nvidia deals may have an advantage in providing cost-efficient inference.

“There are a bunch of chips that are starting to scale that have amazing [total cost of ownership], or that can operate much faster than Nvidia, but there’s not too many buyers for them,” Puklowski said. “By getting together with Upper90, this is not just, ‘a cool startup got some money to buy some compute.’ Like, this is the first signal of capital organizing itself and the fragmenting of Nvidia’s monopolistic dominance.”

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Related Topics:chips Deal financiers GPU inference million turning

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Enugu 2026 Mascot Unveiled as Olopade Promises Biggest-Ever National Sports Festival

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2 hours ago

August 28, 2026

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The official mascot and logo of the 23rd National Sports Festival, tagged “Coal City Games, Enugu 2026,” have been unveiled in Enugu, with the Director-General of the National Sports Commission (NSC), Hon. Bukola Olopade, promising that the Games will be the biggest and highest-sponsored edition in the history of the Festival.

The mascot was unveiled on Friday by the Deputy Governor of Enugu State, Barr. Ifeanyi Ossai, who represented Governor Peter Ndubuisi Mbah at the ceremony.

The event marked a major milestone in preparations for the National Sports Festival, scheduled to hold in Enugu from November 27 to December 11, 2026.

Olopade, who is also Chairman of the Main Organising Committee of the Games, said the unveiling of the mascot and logo was an important stage in the build-up to the Festival because it would help generate nationwide awareness, excitement and anticipation.

He said the mascot would become a symbol through which the message and spirit of the Coal City Games would be taken from Enugu to every part of Nigeria.

According to him, the National Sports Festival should belong to all Nigerians and should not be permanently associated with any particular region of the country.

Olopade said after 28 years, it was time to demonstrate that the Festival could move around the country and give different states the opportunity to showcase their sporting facilities, talents and cultural heritage.

He said Enugu 2026 was therefore designed to demonstrate that the National Sports Festival was a truly national event capable of uniting Nigerians through sports.

The NSC Director-General said the hosting of the Games in Enugu was particularly significant to him because the state is his home state.

“For me personally as the DG now, this means the world to me that we have brought back the National Sports Festival to my home state, Enugu State,” he said.

Olopade recalled that before becoming Director-General of the NSC, he was involved in sports management and had participated in efforts to encourage states to bid for the hosting rights of the National Sports Festival.

He said Enugu’s successful bid therefore represented a significant personal and professional milestone for him.

The NSC boss said the Commission was not only focused on delivering a successful Festival but was also determined to ensure that the Games left behind a lasting legacy in sports infrastructure and development.

He disclosed that work was ongoing on several facilities, including the swimming pool and sports halls, as part of preparations for the Games.

Olopade said the Commission was working closely with the Enugu State Government and other stakeholders to ensure that the necessary facilities were completed ahead of the Festival.

“Our ambition is clear: to deliver the most organised, most competitive and most memorable National Sports Festival ever held,” he said.

He expressed confidence in the continued support of the Federal Government, noting that the Festival provided an important platform for showcasing Nigeria’s sporting talents and facilities.

Olopade commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for his support for sports development and praised Governor Peter Mbah for his commitment to the successful hosting of the Games.

He also acknowledged the contributions of members of the Main Organising Committee, the Local Organising Committee, directors and staff of the National Sports Commission, as well as other stakeholders involved in the preparations.

The Director-General particularly expressed appreciation to Premium Trust Bank, the headline sponsor of the Festival, and other corporate partners for their support.

He described the 2026 edition as the biggest and highest-sponsored National Sports Festival ever, saying the growing involvement of the private sector was an indication of increasing confidence in sports as a vehicle for youth development and national transformation.

Olopade said the contribution of Premium Trust Bank and other sponsors would help strengthen the Games and create greater opportunities for Nigerian youths.

He stressed that the success of the Festival would depend on the collective efforts of the Federal Government, the host state, sponsors, organisers and other stakeholders.

The Deputy Governor, Ossai, who represented Governor Mbah, formally unveiled the mascot and logo, further signalling Enugu State’s readiness to host athletes and officials from across the country.

The 23rd National Sports Festival will be historic for Enugu State as it will be the first time the state is hosting the National Sports Festival.

With the unveiling of the mascot and logo, the Coal City Games have entered another critical phase, with organisers expected to intensify preparations around sporting facilities, accommodation, transportation, security and other logistics ahead of the opening.

The Festival is expected to bring together athletes from across Nigeria in a celebration of sports, youth, culture and national unity, while providing a major platform for discovering and nurturing the next generation of Nigerian sporting talents.

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Nigeria Records 65,000 Suspected Cholera Cases, Over 10,000 Diphtheria Cases

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3 hours ago

August 28, 2026

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Nigeria is facing significant outbreaks of cholera and diphtheria, with more than 65,000 suspected cholera cases recorded across 35 states and about 195 Local Government Areas. More than 10,000 confirmed diphtheria cases have also been reported in 2026.

The Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC), Dr. Jide Idris, disclosed the figures in Abuja while providing an update on the country’s response to both outbreaks.

The NCDC has intensified disease surveillance and deployed National Rapid Response Teams to affected states, including Borno, which has recorded the highest number of cholera cases. Teams are investigating transmission sources and assessing water, sanitation and chlorination gaps.

To control cholera, authorities are bringing treatment closer to affected communities while expanding oral rehydration points, strengthening treatment centres, improving water chlorination and conducting oral cholera vaccination in high-burden areas.

The response to diphtheria is focused on reactive vaccination, early detection and treatment, particularly in Kano, Borno and Bauchi, where cases remain concentrated. Healthcare workers have also been urged to quickly identify, report and manage suspected cases.

The NCDC stressed that federal intervention alone cannot end the outbreaks. States and Local Governments must strengthen immunisation, improve access to safe water and sanitation, repair critical infrastructure and ensure communities have adequate treatment and rapid-response services.

Although declining cholera cases and improved survival rates are encouraging, the NCDC warned against complacency. Communities are advised to use safe water, practise good hygiene, prepare food safely and seek medical attention early. Anyone with frequent watery diarrhoea should begin oral rehydration immediately and visit a health facility, while parents and caregivers should ensure children are fully vaccinated against diphtheria.

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