Atomic Machines emerges from stealth with $250M to build MEMS with AI

Atomic Machines has come out of six years in stealth with $250 million raised, according to TNW. The Emeryville, California company is led by founder and CEO Jeff Holden, who joined Amazon as its tenth engineer, built Amazon Prime, and later became Uber's first chief product officer. The goal: use AI to revamp how microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) are made.

The tool is the Matter Compiler, named after a machine in Neal Stephenson's The Diamond Age. The company calls it an AI-native fab that turns digital designs into working micro-machines, no molds, masks or line retooling required. In practice, it is a chain of 13 automated machines that build and test components. The Star, carrying a New York Times report by Cade Metz, says engineers still move parts from machine to machine and help assemble the final device.

The first product is the PrimeSwitch PS-150, a relay for AI data centers moving to 800-volt direct current. The company says it opens in 50 microseconds, about 1,000 times faster than a conventional contactor, carries 150 amps continuously and measures 9.5mm across and 3mm thick. It is shipping to early-access customers for evaluation. Atomic Machines did not name them. Public debut: the Open Compute Project Global Summit in San Jose, October 12 to 15.

Investors include OneIM, Gigafund, XTX Ventures, KAS Venture Partners, Valor Equity Partners, Sozo Ventures and the Regents of the University of California. Gigafund's Luke Nosek: "If vibe coding is how software gets made now, this is the start of vibe manufacturing."

My take: a fast relay is a spec sheet. A "self-driving fab" with humans as couriers is a pitch. The coverage gives no valuation or round breakdown. It does report equipment builder Mickael Mauger testing the switch; that is not a published benchmark. Show me the eval, not the vibe.