Search Engine Council

$700M. $21B valuation. And a bet on the future of AI inference. 🤖

AI chip startup Etched has raised $700 million, more than doubling its valuation from $10.3B to $21B in just weeks.

The bigger story? Investors are increasingly betting on the infrastructure behind AI — not just the models themselves.

Is specialized AI hardware the next big battleground? 👀

Cristiano Ronaldo tops the list at $1.33B, more than what #2 through #5 combined bring in from football-adjacent earnings alone.

1️⃣ Cristiano Ronaldo — $1.33B
2️⃣ Lionel Messi — $991M
3️⃣ Neymar Jr. — $446M
4️⃣ Kylian Mbappé — $248M
5️⃣ Harry Kane — $147M

Ronaldo and Messi aren’t just footballers anymore — they’re brands with a ball attached. Endorsements, ownership stakes, and global reach now matter more than a single season’s form.

Source: Forbes