Semi Doped

Vikram Sekar and Austin Lyons

The business and technology of semiconductors. Alpha for engineers and investors alike.

Episodes

  1. Can Pre-GPT AI Accelerators Handle Long Context Workloads?

    1 DAY AGO

    Can Pre-GPT AI Accelerators Handle Long Context Workloads?

    OpenAI's partnership with Cerebras and Nvidia's announcement of context memory storage raises a fundamental question: as agentic AI demands long sessions with massive context windows, can SRAM-based accelerators designed before the LLM era keep up—or will they converge with GPUs? Key Takeaways 1. Context is the new bottleneck. As agentic workloads demand long sessions with massive codebases, storing and retrieving KV cache efficiently becomes critical. 2. There's no one-size-fits-all. Sachin Khatti's (OpenAI, ex-Intel) signals a shift toward heterogeneous compute—matching specific accelerators to specific workloads. 3. Cerebras has 44GB of SRAM per wafer — orders of magnitude more than typical chips — but the question remains: where does the KV cache go for long context? 4. Pre-GPT accelerators may converge toward GPUs. If they need to add HBM or external memory for long context, some of their differentiation erodes. 5. Post-GPT accelerators (Etched, MatX) are the ones to watch. Designed specifically for transformer inference, they may solve the KV cache problem from first principles. Chapters   - 00:00 — Intro   - 01:20 — What is context memory storage?   - 03:30 — When Claude runs out of context   - 06:00 — Tokens, attention, and the KV cache explained   - 09:07 — The AI memory hierarchy: HBM → DRAM → SSD → network storage   - 12:53 — Nvidia's G1/G2/G3 tiers and the missing G0 (SRAM)   - 14:35 — Bluefield DPUs and GPU Direct Storage   - 15:53 — Token economics: cache hits vs misses   - 20:03 — OpenAI + Cerebras: 750 megawatts for faster Codex   - 21:29 — Why Cerebras built a wafer-scale engine   - 25:07 — 44GB SRAM and running Llama 70B on four wafers   - 25:55 — Sachin Khatti on heterogeneous compute strategy   - 31:43 — The big question: where does Cerebras store KV cache?   - 34:11 — If SRAM offloads to HBM, does it lose its edge?   - 35:40 — Pre-GPT vs Post-GPT accelerators   - 36:51 — Etched raises $500M at $5B valuation   - 38:48 — Wrap up

    38 min
  2. An Interview with Innoviz CEO Omer Keilaf about current LiDAR market dynamics

    5 DAYS AGO

    An Interview with Innoviz CEO Omer Keilaf about current LiDAR market dynamics

    Innoviz CEO Omer Keilaf believes the LIDAR market is down to its final players—and that Innoviz has already won its seat. In this conversation, we cover the Level 4 gold rush sparked by Waymo, why stalled Level 3 programs are suddenly accelerating, the technical moat that separates L4-grade LIDAR from everything else, how a one-year-old startup won BMW, and why Keilaf thinks his competitors are already out of the race. Omer Keilaf founded Innoviz in 2016. Today it's a publicly traded Tier 1 supplier to BMW, Volkswagen, Daimler Truck, and other global OEMs. Chapters   00:00 Introduction   00:17 Why Start a LIDAR Company in 2016?   01:32 The Personal Story Behind Innoviz   03:12 Transportation Is Still Our Biggest Daily Risk   04:28 The 2012 Spark: Xbox Kinect and 3D Sensing   06:32 From Mobile to Automotive: Finding the Right Platform   07:54 "I Didn't Know What LIDAR Was, But I'd Do It Better"   08:19 How a One-Year-Old Startup Won BMW   10:04 Surviving the First Product   11:23 From Tier 2 to Tier 1: The Volkswagen Win   13:47 Lessons Learned Scaling Through Partners   14:45 The SPAC Decision: A Wake-Up Call from a Competitor   16:42 From 200 LIDAR Companies to a Handful   17:27 NREs: How Tier 1 Status Funds R&D   18:44 Why Automotive-First Is the Right Strategy   19:45 Consolidation Patterns: Cameras, Radars, Airbags   20:31 "The Music Has Stopped"   21:07 Non-Automotive: Underserved Markets   23:51 Working with Secretive OEMs   25:27 The Press Release They Tried to Stop   26:42 CES 2025: 85% of Meetings Were Level 4   27:40 Why Level 3 Programs Are Suddenly Accelerating   28:33 The EV/ADAS Coupling Problem   29:49 Design Is Everything: The Holy Grail Is Behind the Windshield   31:13 The Three-Year RFQ: Grill → Roof → Windshield   32:32 Innoviz3: Small Enough for Behind-the-Windshield   34:40 Innoviz2 for L4, Innoviz3 for Consumer L3   36:38 What's the Real Difference Between L2, L3, and L4 LIDAR?   38:51 The Mud Test: Why L4 Demands 100% Availability   40:50 "We're the Only LIDAR Designed for Level 4"   42:52 Patents and the Maslow Pyramid of Autonomy   44:15 Non-Automotive Markets: Agriculture, Mining, Security   46:15 Closing

    47 min

About

The business and technology of semiconductors. Alpha for engineers and investors alike.