Korean company Rebellion, which designs artificial intelligence chips, recently provided samples of its chips to Elon Musk’s xAI. This follows a similar move involving Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta. According to industry sources, Rebellion is now seeking a supply contract, but nothing is certain yet. The samples are intended for testing so that xAI can verify whether the chips meet the needs of its AI services. Rebellion manufactures these samples in large quantities at Samsung Electronics factories and is trying to acquire new customers, particularly in the United States, where it has established a local branch.
This move is significant because major companies such as xAI are looking for alternatives to dominant suppliers such as Nvidia. Rebellion is thus expanding its influence among industry giants that need chips for data centers. The tests assess performance, power consumption, and how the chips work with other systems. If the tests go well, this could lead to large-scale production.
Rebellion plans stock market listing and major investments
Rebellion is preparing to go public in the second half of this year. The company has already selected Samsung Securities as the lead adviser for the process. Last year, Rebellion raised investments totaling 640 billion South Korean won (approximately CZK 10.8 billion). It recently signed a cooperation agreement with the Malaysian government to develop AI data centers, with support from investor Intervest.
The company’s value is estimated at up to 4 trillion South Korean won (approximately CZK 67.2 billion), more than after its latest funding round, when it was valued at 1.9 trillion won (approximately CZK 31.9 billion). This is thanks to new investors such as Arm and growing demand for AI chips in Korea.
Strong market position
Rebellion’s sales are growing rapidly. Last year, the company expected revenue of up to 40 billion South Korean won (approximately CZK 672 million), as much as four times the 10 billion won (approximately CZK 168 million) recorded in 2024. Its main customers are KT and SKT, which account for half of its sales. Rebellion supplies them with Atom and Atom Max chips for AI applications.
The company is focused on acquiring more major clients, such as xAI, to strengthen its position before going public. In December, Rebellion held a media day where it announced plans to file for approval of its stock market listing later this year.
Chip testing at Meta
Rebellion had previously provided chips to Meta, which is testing them for its AI services. This is helping Rebellion build trust among major American companies. Industry experts say that Rebellion is now actively offering samples to convince customers of the quality of its products. If it succeeds in securing contracts with xAI or others, it could significantly strengthen the company’s position in the global AI chip market.
Rebellion is focusing on the United States, which has many large data centers, and is seeking to reduce major companies’ dependence on a single supplier.
Sources: x.com and dealsite.co.kr
