Groq’s chips are not GPUs, which typically power AI systems. Instead, Groq calls them LPUs (language processing units), branding its hardware as an inference engine—specialised computers optimised for running AI models quickly and efficiently.

Groq’s LPU-based systems, built for real-time inference with unmatched speed and efficiency, have been in high demand. Groq delivers the lowest cost per token without compromise, making large-scale AI viable for governments, developers, and enterprises worldwide.

The start-up is rapidly building and operationalising data centres in weeks, bringing AI closer to users and giving partners more control over where and how inference runs. Groq’s vision is simple: local infrastructure means lower latency, stronger data governance, and faster response times at scale.

Infrastructure For Inference

There has been a massive shift in the AI domain: industry players are more interested in deploying or running models known as inference. Understanding this reality, Groq is aggressively investing its efforts in providing fast AI inference in the cloud and on-premise AI compute centres, giving developers and enterprises an instant intelligence experience.

Groq technology can be accessed by anyone via GroqCloud, while enterprises and partners can choose between cloud or on-premise AI compute centre deployment. The start-up aims to deploy millions of LPUs in the coming days, providing the world with access to the value of AI. While the start-up’s first-generation LPU has been commercially available, Groq says more innovations are on the way.

Groq’s on-premise hardware is essentially a server rack outfitted with a stack of its integrated hardware/software nodes. Both the cloud and on-premise hardware run open versions of popular models, such as those from Meta, DeepSeek, Qwen, Mistral, Google, and OpenAI. Groq claims its offerings maintain, or in some cases improve, AI performance at significantly less cost than alternatives.

Groq’s founder, Jonathan Ross, previously worked at Google developing its Tensor Processing Unit (TPU) chip, specialised processors designed for machine learning tasks. The TPU was announced in 2016, the same year Groq emerged from stealth. TPUs still power Google Cloud’s AI services. Groq claims it powers the AI apps of more than two million developers.

“Our custom LPU is built for this phase—developed in the US with a resilient supply chain for consistent performance at scale. It powers GroqCloud, a full-stack platform for fast, affordable, production-ready inference. Groq provides the lowest cost per token, even as usage grows, without sacrificing speed, quality, or control,” the start-up remarked.

Groq has sub-millisecond latency that remains consistent across traffic, regions, and workloads, providing speed at any scale. Groq’s architecture is designed to preserve model quality at every size, from compact voice models to large-scale MoEs, consistently and at production scale.

Meet The Products

Groq’s custom LPU is built for inference, developed in the United States with a resilient supply chain for consistent performance at scale. The LPU powers both GroqCloud, a full-stack platform for fast, affordable, production-ready inference, and GroqRack Compute Clusters, ideal for enterprises needing on-premise solutions for their cloud or AI Compute Centre. Speaking of GroqCloud, the platform provides fast and affordable inference. Available as public, private, and co-cloud instances, GroqCloud redefines real-time performance and unlocks a new set of use cases by running business AI applications instantly. More than one million developers are already building on the GroqCloud platform, designed to meet businesses’ needs as they migrate from other AI providers like OpenAI.

GroqCloud is an “Agentic Ready” full-stack platform, seamlessly integrating tools, leveraging real-time streaming, and connecting to external sources to empower agents with enhanced intelligence. It also transforms natural language into actionable API calls and builds dynamic, real-time workflows, driving efficiency and innovation. Developers can further build applications with the Groq API using the language of their choice, with support for curl, JavaScript, Python, and JSON. They can also create cutting-edge applications leveraging industry-leading frameworks and integrations like LangChain, LlamaIndex, CrewAI, Vercel AI SDK, and more, apart from designing context-aware apps and real-time streamed UIs for dynamic, responsive applications that adapt to user needs.

GroqCloud provides a “No-code Developer Playground” for app developers, allowing them to explore the Groq API and featured models without writing a single line of code on the GroqCloud Developer Console. And the best part is that these developers don’t need to pay large upfront costs to start generating tokens. The Groq on-demand tokens-as-a-service model is simple. The user pays as they go for the tokens consumed without any upfront costs.

Next is the “GroqRack Compute Cluster,” which helps developers and businesses elevate their own cloud/AI Compute Centre with on-premise deployments. The start-up has also made its “Groq LPU AI Inference” technology available in various interconnected rack configurations to meet clients’ preferred model sizes.

With no exotic cooling or power requirements, deploying Groq systems requires no major overhaul of existing data centre infrastructure. With routing built into the LPU, both dollars and data centre space are focused on its main purpose: compute. Business leaders don’t need to worry about the high overhead costs of networking infrastructure. Groq currently has an available supply, ready to help tech businesses get up and running quickly with LPU AI inference technology that is designed and manufactured in North America.

Groq In Recent News

In the first half of 2025, Groq entered into a partnership with Bell Canada to power Bell AI Fabric, the country’s largest sovereign AI infrastructure project. Bell AI Fabric will establish a national AI network across six sites, targeting 500MW of clean, hydro-powered compute. The project launched with a 7MW Groq facility in Kamloops, British Columbia, which came online in June. In May, Groq also brought new data centres online in Houston and Dallas, pushing total global network capacity to over 20 million tokens per second.

Groq has teamed up with tech giant Meta to deliver fast inference for the official Llama API, to provide developers the fastest, most cost-effective way to run the latest Llama models. The Llama 4 API model, accelerated by Groq, will run on the Groq LPU, the world’s most efficient inference chip. Developers will be able to run Llama models with no trade-offs, offering features like low cost, fast responses, predictable low latency, and reliable scaling for production workloads.

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Under the strategic tie-up, the two companies will be eyeing to offer customers a faster, more secure, and more efficient payment solution for Web3 and cryptocurrency products.

In today’s episode of International Finance’s ‘Start-up of the Week,’ we will talk about the venture, which has its presence in Salt Lake City, Las Vegas and Austin.

Discussing Fortress’ ePayments, Crypto & NFT Wallets

Fortress’ solutions eliminate private keys and seed phrases by providing a secure, stress-free login, and a password recovery process, thus allowing everyone to enjoy the benefits of Web3.

Fortress reportedly serves industries across different spectrums, spanning from travel, gaming, sports, and entertainment.

Fortress’ wallet API lets the users create a cross-chain wallet for clients who hold crypto, NFTs, stablecoins, utility tokens, and more. NFTs are supported on Ethereum and Polygon, and will be expanded to the Solana, and Binance Smart Chain soon.

Also Fortress’ trust platform, the “first Trust-as-a-Service platform of its kind”, extends the typical BaaS (cloud-based Backend-as-a-Service model) offering to the blockchain and other alternative assets.

The venture’s tokenization engine also lets its users securely deploy smart contracts, apart from minting and burning tokens. Users can create NFTs, utility tokens, reward tokens, and pair these products with Fortress’ trust platform to create stable coins and tokenized assets.

Fortress’s Financial Infrastructure For Web3 & Crypto Innovators

Fortress’ team is mainly composed of old-school finance industry executives and emerging technologies experts. The team champions the cause called “Transformation in Payments.”

“We sit on the cutting edge, though in an ‘adults in the room’ kind of way. We build infrastructure to change the game for our customers- creating solutions in ePayments, crypto, enterprise tokenization, and more,” the venture described itself.

Through Fortress’ solutions, Web3 stakeholders can accept and process payments via credit card, linked bank accounts, wires, and crypto. The venture takes care of regulatory procedures like KYC (Know Your Customer), AML (Anti-Money Laundering) and sanctions screening.

“We work closely with exchanges and OTC desks to facilitate easy, instant, risk-free conversions of dollars to crypto and/or crypto to dollars. It is perfect for NFT publishers who want royalties in dollars, as well as for neo-banks who want to give their users the ability to invest in crypto,” Fortress stated.

Fortress’ tools and options also limit/eliminate the customers’ exposure to chargebacks and fraud.

For investment advisers, trusts, retirement accounts, and others who have to hold assets with a “qualified custodian,” Fortress follows quick customer onboarding procedures, while confirming with the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) regulations.

All electronic data, content and intellectual property are encrypted, held and overseen by Fortress Trust at AWS (Amazon Web Services). This provides a solid guard against the potential loss of customers’ assets, in the scenario of data hacking.

Also, under Fortress’ ‘NFT Royalty Escrow’ solutions, users can receive royalties from NFT sales and resales, thus automatically converting crypto to dollars. The transparent solution also gives CPAs (Certified Public Accountants) and financial advisors a transaction ledger.

An ‘API-Integrated’ Retirement Account

As of August 2023, Fortress is holding some USD 11.8 trillion in Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs). Customers can invest in Fortress’ IRA scheme through means like crypto, NFTs, real estate, royalties, private business securities, debt instruments and precious metals like gold.

To help the customers avail of the Fortress IRA, CPAs and financial advisors need to write into the venture’s APIs, followed by offering IRAs as an account option to their customers, adding funds on behalf of the customers and then letting customers buy their IRA assets. These financial advisors can also take ‘Advisory Fees’ from the Fortress portal.

Apart from all these, Fortress allows its client businesses to modernize and simplify the latters’ payments to gig workers, contractors and employees. Absolutely zero missed payments/returned checks, low operational cost, transparent payment receipts, API-friendly service integration, brandable debit cards and digital wallets are some of the features ‘Fortress ePAYMENTS’ provides to its clients.

Fortress customers can turn cash into digital USD, while using the venture’s blockchain mechanisms.

Understanding Fortress’ ‘Tokenization Engine’

Fortress also provides a solution called ‘Enterprise NFT Tokenization Engine’ for public and private content, a solution which helps to tokenize art, contracts, securities, healthcare records, videos, estate documents, and intellectual property.

The users’ non-public content, documents and intellectual property remain encrypted, stored on Google Cloud and overseen by a financial institution.

NFT holders get alerted when new content is added to their NFT vault.

For selling NFTs, Fortress provides its users with tools like ‘SELL-DIRECT WIDGET’ (A plug ‘n play widget that the user can use on his/her business website and in social media to sell the NFTs directly to the target audience. Credit cards, bank accounts links, wire transfers or even crypto payment methods can be used for this purpose) and ‘MARKETPLACE LINKING’ (Direct linking for selling NFTs on OpenSea, Autograph, Ethernity or any other WalletConnect-enabled marketplace. Here, the user will receive his/her proceeds and royalties in the individual’s royalty account at Fortress Trust).

The Road Ahead

Fortress hit the media headlines in 2022 by winning the ‘Web3 Innovator of the Year’ by Fireblocks. A year after, the venture got featured among the ‘Top 50 Best Start-ups to Work For in Austin’ by BuiltIn.

So far, the company has raised USD 34 million from investors like SALT, Ayon Capital, Ripple, Nevcaut Ventures and Eagle River. Through the strategic tie-up with Astra, Fortress customers will be able to easily embed both Web3 and instant transfer settlement into their existing infrastructure without capital commitments, pre-funding credit facilities, or complicated technical integrations.

In short, Fortress is here to stay and redefine the fintech sector.

Image Credits: Fortress

The post Start-up of the Week: Meet Fortress, the ‘custodial’ force in blockchain space appeared first on International Finance.

According to Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor John Mangudya, those who possess small quantities of Zimbabwean dollars would be able to exchange their cash for tokens to store value and hedge against currency fluctuation.

In order to stop the recent significant depreciation of the Zimbabwe dollar on the black market, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe is also thinking about putting more Mosi-oa-Tunya gold coins onto the market. The word Mosi-oa-Tunya means, “The Smoke Which Thunders” and refers to Victoria Falls in the local Tonga language.

What Mangudya has observed is that, in addition to being fueled by Zimbabwe’s need to import goods and services, the demand for foreign currency is also seen as a store of wealth.

It means anyone with local money would want to exchange it for international money.

Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe is addressing this demand for a store of value by increasing the number of gold coins in the market so that we manage that demand. In order to make sure that no one and no area is left behind, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe will also soon introduce digital gold tokens to make it possible for individuals who have little access to local currency to buy the gold units, Mangudya said.

Officially, the Zimbabwe dollar is valued at ZWL$1000.4, however, on the black market, it is frequently exchanged for Z$1800.

Meanwhile, Zimbabwe’s currency plunged to a record in the unauthorized market after the central bank urged suppliers not to buy foreign exchange with the payment they recently received from the government.

According to Zimpricecheck.com, a website which monitors unofficial and official rates, the Zimbabwean dollar traded between Z$950-Z$1,100 to the US dollar in the parallel market. That’s the lowest on record, and significantly weaker than the official rate of 671 to the US dollar. Businesses are allowed a 10% markup on the authorized price.

The post Zimbabwe to introduce gold-backed digital currency appeared first on International Finance.

A single token associated with an artwork by digital artist Beeple titled “Every Day: The First 5000 Days” sold for about USD 70 million in March 2021, as the NFT craze picked back then.

Kevin McCoy and his colleague Anil Dash, in 2014, presented the concept of a particular crypto-like currency that would serve as ownership proof for digital products, as the duo felt the idea to be an ‘important’ one. The goal was to give emerging artists new support means and develop a system for tracking the provenance of digital works. However, Kevin McCoy claims he never thought NFTs would be used as a platform for financial speculation.

In 2021, a buying and selling frenzy sent the NFT price through the roof, starting in earnest with the historic Beeple transaction. Despite a flood of new tokens diluting the market by the year end, the average price of an NFT had increased above USD 3,000, and the least expensive tokens from the most coveted collections were fetching prices of up to USD 200,000 each.

But eventually, just like every other economic bubble, NFTs too depreciated. They were traded for USD 17 billion in January 2022, but by November, that amount had dropped to USD 400 million, thereby registering a 97% decline. Uncertainty surrounds the exact cause of the crash. Still, the demand decline, sparked by a dip in the cryptocurrency market, has eliminated about $USD 9 billion from the NFT market values.

Members of the NFT sector approach the collapse as a purifying event. Shiva Rajaraman, vice president of products at OpenSea, the largest NFT marketplace in the world, declares, “I’m a strong believer that you don’t need the hype.”

Even though the exposure helped the industry, according to him, it attracted individuals to NFTs for the wrong reasons, to make a quick buck, and diverted attention from the technology’s usefulness.

The NFT is at a turning point, with regulators now hovering and skeptics enjoying the schadenfreude (pleasure derived from someone’s misfortune). Industry insiders agree that technology needs to be reframed differently for the tokens to be widely used and keep their cultural importance.

Legendary American stock broker Peter Schiff argues that NFTs will only keep their value because of supply and demand. For him, the “code of honor” keeps NFT issuers from eroding token value by flooding the market with new products; therefore, scarcity cannot be depended on as a value anchor. “Everyone can have beachfront property in the metaverse,” he says.

Peter Schiff agrees that NFTs could be useful for memberships that can be given to other people, but he doesn’t see them as “game-changers.”

He says most NFT users are mainly interested in speculation-free use cases for financial gain. This theory is well-supported. High-profile firms flood the market with NFTs to cash in on brand equity. For example, Binance launched NFTs in partnership with Cristiano Ronaldo (USD 445,000), and Warner Bros. Discovery made an NFT version of “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring”.

Peter Schiff added, “The average NFT buyer will lose money. If you bought an NFT thinking it would appreciate, you’re wrong. It’s worthless.”

Kevin McCoy, the creator, is philosophical about his creation’s destiny. He expects the new focus on usefulness will provide price stability, freeing NFTs from the grueling boom-and-bust cycle that has typified the crypto market and resulted in massive cash losses.

Kevin McCoy said that unique digital property is too vital to perish, but its final shape and use are unknown.

The post The year of death & rebirth for NFT appeared first on International Finance.