Google has been sued for $1.67 billion for ‘patent infringement’ Tensor-soc

Google has been sued in the United States for $1.67 billion for alleged patent infringement with the design of its Tensor chips. The company refutes the claim, saying the SoCs are “fundamentally different” from those of the plaintiff, Singular Computing.

According to the prosecutor, Singular Computing founder Joseph Bates invented the technology for the chips for AI applications, among other things, between 2010 and 2014 and Google used this technology for Tensor chips without permission or compensation. details Reuters. This would specifically concern the second and third versions of the chips, which were developed in 2017 and 2018 respectively. Internal emails show that the company did indeed want to present its technology to Google, but it is not clear whether this happened. The company wanted to receive $7 billion from Google before the start of the lawsuit, but is now asking for $1.67 billion during the first hearing.

Google claims to a federal jury that it is a “disappointed inventor” who unsuccessfully tried to sell its technology to Meta, Microsoft, Amazon and OpenAI, among others. Once again it is not clear whether this actually happened. In any case, the Tensor chips in question would be fundamentally different from the technology on which Singular Computing has patents.

At the same time, a case between Google and the Patent and Trademark Office about the patents is pending in an appeals court. Google wanted to have them declared invalid, but the court initially did not agree. It is not clear when judgments in the lawsuits can be expected.