DeepX Targets Nvidia's Robot Customers With a 5-Watt Chip for 100B-Parameter Models

DeepX, a South Korean startup founded in 2018, wants robot makers to swap Nvidia’s Jetson Orin modules for its chips, and its next one, built on a 2-nanometer process, is meant to run large language models.

A robot that carries its own battery pays for its computer in run time and heat. DeepX says its DX-M1 chip already delivers about 20 times the power efficiency of Nvidia’s Jetson Orin, and the DX-M2 is meant to bring large language models within a 5-watt budget.

Where does the 20x come from?

It traces to the DX-M1, the chip DeepX already sells. DeepX said at an April briefing in Pangyo that the DX-M1 averages 2 to 3 watts, delivers about 20 times the power efficiency of Nvidia’s Jetson Orin for comparable workloads and costs roughly one-tenth as much. Kim said even Nvidia faces battery and thermal limits in industrial and edge machines.

Efficiency is not battery life. A robot also spends charge on motors and sensors, so a chip that is 20 times more efficient stretches the battery by less than 20 times.

What is still a target?

The DX-M2, the chip behind the 5-watt claim, has not reached customers. DeepX plans to receive prototype wafers in March 2027, validate performance in April and May, and begin preparing initial customer supply from June. It targets mass production in the second half of 2027.

The 100 billion parameters is the top of the range DeepX targets, which starts at 20 billion. DeepX also targets up to 80 trillion operations per second. Nvidia lists 67 trillion operations per second for its Jetson Orin Nano, at 7 to 25 watts.

How big is the business?

DeepX has mass-produced the DX-M1 since August 2025. It held 88 purchase orders from 10 countries worth about $13.3 million as of October, about one-third of the $40 million in revenue it forecasts for 2026. Orders are not revenue, and the order total counts more than a year of sales against a single year’s forecast.

DeepX reported 2025 revenue of 3.3 billion won and an operating loss of 20.1 billion won, a loss about six times its revenue by The Denominator’s arithmetic. The orders show robot makers will buy a low-power chip from a startup; they do not yet show any running a 100-billion-parameter model on one.

DeepX expects its first DX-M2 wafers in March 2027.