Google has purchased Agnilux, a chip startup run by Apple refugees. After P.A. Semi was bought by Apple in 2008 for $278 million, several of the prime movers of that company, including Amarjit Gill, Executive VP of Sales and Business Development, along with several Apple employees, jumped ship and started Agnilux. A former Tivo executive also joined the company.
P.A. Semi produces the chips that run the iPhone and iPad. Speculation has surrounded the theoretical Apple intel that might come with the company, the entertainment media background of some of its executives and the extraordinary secrecy of Agnilux.
Despite investigation by the New York Times, very little information is available on the company. In February, NYT talked about the company’s website. That website no longer exists. When it did it had little information.
“Hop over to the Agnilux Web site and you’re told very little about the company beyond the location of its offices and the derivation of the company’s name. Agni is Sanskrit for fire and Lux is the Latin for light.”
An anonymous source told the Times he thought the company was producing a server.
Prior to accepting the Google deal, Agnilux held conversations with Cisco, Microsoft and Texas Instruments. It’s uncertain whether they spoke with VCs or other investors.
