LightOn
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| Industry | Artificial intelligence |
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| Founded | 2016 |
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| Headquarters | , |
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| Products |
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Number of employees | 41 (2024)[1] |
| Website | lighton.ai |
| Part of a series on |
| Artificial intelligence (AI) |
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LightOn is a French company focused on artificial intelligence (AI), that aims to developp both generative AI[2] and AI hardware solutions. Its first product, the Optical Processing Units (OPU), was released in 2018. In 2024, it became Europe's first listed GenAI startup to launch an IPO.
History
LightOn was established in 2016 in Paris by French engineers and entrepreneurs Igor Carron, Laurent Daudet, and Cyril Allouche.[3] The founders, with backgrounds in optics and AI, aimed to develop hardware solutions that could accelerate AI computations using optical processing. The company's first product, the Optical Processing Unit (OPU), was launched in 2018.[4][5] The approach aims to increase the efficiency of massive parallel processing in tasks that involve large-scale data such has Large Language Model.[6]
In 2021, LightOn OPU's were integrated in Jean Zay, one of the French National Centre for Scientific Research supercomputer, making it the first of the TOP500 world's most powerfull computer using such hardware.[7]
In 2024, LightOn launched an IPO[8][9] and became Europe's first listed GenAI startup.[10]
Between 2020 and 2024, LightOn has designed 12 Large Language Models. Since the end of 2024, LightOn's solutions were implemented by various entities such as Ile-de-France region, Safran, Groupama, and the French Space Agency (CNES). The company also partnered with Orange Business and Hewlett Packard Enterprise to integrate its AI software with their cloud and hardware offerings.[1]
References
- ^ a b "LIGHTON | LIGHTON, a leading European player in generative AI for businesses, announces the approval of its registration document by the AMF as part of its planned IPO on Euronext Growth® Paris". 22 October 2024.
- ^ "LightOn to become Europe's first listed GenAI startup with Paris IPO".
- ^ "LightOn raises $3.3 million for optics-based AI data processing". 19 December 2018.
- ^ "Startup integrates optical processing into data center for AI operations". 28 February 2018.
- ^ Hesslow, Daniel; Cappelli, Alessandro; Carron, Igor; Daudet, Laurent; Lafargue, Raphael; Muller, Kilian; Ohana, Ruben; Pariente, Gustave; Poli, Iacopo (2021). "Photonic co-processors in HPC: Using LightOn OPUs for Randomized Numerical Linear Algebra". 2021 IEEE Hot Chips 33 Symposium (HCS). pp. 1–9. arXiv:2104.14429. doi:10.1109/HCS52781.2021.9566948. ISBN 978-1-6654-1397-8.
- ^ "LightOn Unveils LightOn Appliance, Photonic Co-processor".
- ^ "This powerful supercomputer can now run on light instead of electric current". 25 December 2021.
- ^ https://www.reuters.com/technology/artificial-intelligence/frances-lighton-says-valued-65-mln-euronext-ipo-2024-11-21/
- ^ "La start-up française d'IA LightOn veut s'introduire en bourse". Le Monde. 8 November 2024.
- ^ https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/lighton-become-europes-first-listed-genai-startup-with-paris-ipo-2024-11-08/
