Atomic Machines Raises $250M to Build Micro-Machines from Code
Jeff Holden’s Atomic Machines spent six years in stealth. Its first device, PrimeSwitch, is a relay for AI data centres that the company says opens in 50 microseconds.
October 7, 2026 - 1:15 pm
Jeff Holden, founder and chief executive of Atomic Machines (Credit: Atomic Machines)
Atomic Machines has emerged from six years in stealth with $250M raised. It claims its system builds working micro-machines directly from code. The Bay Area start-up announced its launch on Wednesday. Its inaugural product is a power switch for AI data centres.
Holden, who joined Amazon as its tenth engineer and built Amazon Prime, later became Uber’s first chief product officer. There, he established its self-driving, AI labs, and air-taxi units, according to the company.
"3D printing made shapes programmable: any geometry, straight from a file. We’re making machines programmable." - Jeff Holden
The Matter Compiler
The company refers to its system as the Matter Compiler, after a machine in Neal Stephenson’s novel The Diamond Age. It states that code alone determines which device the system constructs. The micro-machines it creates possess moving parts, various materials, and features down to single-digit microns. No molds, masks, or other fixed tooling are required.
The system measures and corrects each step in real time, and its AI runs its own experiments on the hardware, Atomic Machines stated. Target applications include gears as small as a grain of sand, robots tiny enough to work inside the body, and cooling built into AI chips.
While conventional manufacturing hits its limits at a few tens of microns, Atomic Machines claims its system goes much smaller—down to single-digit microns—without the need for custom process work.
PrimeSwitch PS-150
The initial product is PrimeSwitch PS-150, a relay that opens in 50 microseconds, approximately 1,000 times faster than a conventional contactor. It can handle 150 amps of continuous current and measures just 9.5mm across and 3mm thick.
Designed for AI data centres transitioning to 800-volt direct current, PrimeSwitch is intended to protect against faults that could release destructive energy in microseconds. Mechanical protection takes milliseconds to activate.
PrimeSwitch is now shipping to early-access customers for evaluation. The switch will be on display for the first time at the Open Compute Project Global Summit in San Jose from October 12th to 15th.
Investors and Funding
Investors in Atomic Machines include OneIM, Gigafund, XTX Ventures, KAS Venture Partners, Valor Equity Partners, and Sozo Ventures. The Regents of the University of California also invested. While the company did not disclose a valuation or how the $250M was allocated across rounds, it indicates significant backing for its innovative technology.
"If vibe coding is how software gets made now, this is the start of vibe manufacturing." - Luke Nosek, managing partner at Gigafund.
In vibe coding, people describe software in plain language, and AI writes it. This trend has already spawned several start-up unicorns.