The short-selling firm Culper Research has taken a position against AI hardware maker Cerebras, arguing that the company’s core wafer-scale engine technology is prone to premature breakdown. In a report released Tuesday, the firm alleged that Cerebras’s chips break down after roughly 1.5 to 2.5 years in the field, a lifespan that it claims would cause the expensive hardware to depreciate rapidly and undermine the company’s business model.
Culper further claimed that Cerebras uses a workaround of “dummy operations” to prevent the chips from cooling and breaking, which in turn accelerates wear. The report also challenged the company’s claims regarding its connector materials, alleging the use of a pre-existing product called PariPoser from Paricon Technologies. Shares of Cerebras fell about 5% following the announcement.
