An AI Chip Kerfuffle
Google, part of Alphabet Inc., experienced an upturn in its stock on Thursday, with a gain of up to 2.9%. This came following the settlement of a $1.67 billion patent infringement lawsuit brought against the company by Singular Computing. The lawsuit alleged that Google unlawfully incorporated innovations developed by Singular founder Joseph Bates into its own AI processors in 2017. Google had introduced Tensor Processing Units (TPUs) as a means to enhance the performance and efficiency of machine learning and AI workloads.
Google strongly denied the allegations, emphasizing that its scientists and engineers had not engaged in any collaboration with Singular’s staff. The company maintained that its implementation of the technology in TPUs differed significantly from the approach outlined in Singular’s patents. The disputed technology had been integrated into various flagship Google products, such as Google Search, Gmail, and Google Translate.
According to Google spokesperson Jose Castaneda, the company was pleased to resolve the matter and reiterated its position that Singular’s patents were not infringed.
Much Ado About Nothing?
With approximately $120 billion in cash and marketable securities at the end of the third quarter, Alphabet was financially robust. Throughout the quarter, the company generated nearly $23 billion from free cash flow. Thus, the $1.67 billion settlement would not significantly impact its finances.
Nevertheless, Alphabet likely wanted to put this lawsuit behind it swiftly. The company wasted no time in introducing a range of AI models for its cloud computing customers. Moreover, the settlement amount is speculated to be considerably less than the original $1.67 billion claim made in the lawsuit.