Atomic Machines raises $250 million to build micro-machines straight from code
The start-up of former Amazon and Uber executive Jeff Holden emerges after six years. Its first product is an ultra-fast power relay for AI data centres.
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US start-up Atomic Machines has emerged from six years in stealth with $250 million in funding. Its founder and CEO is Jeff Holden, one of Amazon's earliest engineers, where he helped build Prime, and later Uber's first chief product officer. Backers include Gigafund, Valor Equity Partners, XTX Ventures and the University of California. The company did not disclose a valuation.
At its core is a system the company calls the "Matter Compiler": it builds tiny machines with moving parts and features of a few microns directly from software – without moulds, masks or fixed tooling. AI controls and corrects each manufacturing step and, according to the company, runs its own experiments. "3D printing made shapes programmable: any geometry, straight from a file. We're making machines programmable," Holden said.
The first product is the PrimeSwitch PS-150 relay for data centres moving to 800-volt direct current. It is designed to open in 50 microseconds – about 1,000 times faster than a conventional contactor, the company says – and carry 150 amps of continuous current. Early customers are receiving evaluation units, and the public debut is set for the OCP Global Summit in San Jose from 12 to 15 October.