Nvidia-backed Upscale AI Launches Platform to Link Chips from Rival Makers
Upscale AI, a Santa Clara networking startup backed by Nvidia, launched a platform on Thursday that lets data centers link AI chips made by different suppliers, Reuters reported.
Token Fabric: Unlocking Interoperability
The product, called Token Fabric, was revealed in a company announcement today. Upscale stated it is built on open standards and supports graphics chips, custom AI chips, and network cards from any vendor.
Large AI systems rely on efficient data exchange between thousands of chips. Networking gear plays a crucial role in connecting these chips within a server rack (scale-up) or across multiple racks (scale-out). Slow data transfer results in underutilized hardware and increased costs.
Many current systems employ proprietary connections like Nvidia’s NVLink. Token Fabric takes a different approach by advocating for shared standards such as UALink and Ethernet for Scale-Up Networking (ESUN), enabling chips from rival manufacturers to coexist on the same network.
Token Fabric combines Upscale’s own scale-up switch chip, SkyFabriX, with Nvidia’s Spectrum-X Ethernet chips designed for scale-out networking. Two software layers, SkyOS and SkyCMD, manage and monitor the entire network, identifying bottlenecks and suggesting hardware upgrades as needed.
“The network is the backbone of the AI factory, keeping accelerators connected and productive as systems scale,” said Gilad Shainer, Nvidia’s senior vice president of networking.
The platform’s initial release is scheduled for Q4 2026, with subsequent phases rolling out through 2027. Upscale CEO Barun Kar predicts significant revenue from Token Fabric next year, potentially reaching the low hundreds of millions. The target customers include large cloud providers and neoclassical clouds (smaller firms renting AI computing power).
Kar and executive chairman Rajiv Khemani founded Upscale in 2025. The company has raised substantial funding, including a $100m seed round in September 2025 and a $200m Series A in January 2026. A subsequent $190m extension led by Premji Invest in June valued Upscale at $2bn. Nvidia, Salesforce Ventures, and Temasek participated in this funding round, bringing the total to approximately $500m.
Other startups are also addressing data bottlenecks between chips. In July, chip interconnect firm Eliyan secured a $1bn valuation.