# Chris Zhu

> Chris Zhu is a co-founder of Etched, the San Jose company building AI inference chips and rack-scale systems. A former Harvard math and computer science student and Thiel Fellow, he co-founded Etched after earlier combinatorics research. The company shipped its first customer rack to Jane Street in August 2026.

- **Role:** Co-founder at Etched
- **Organizations:** Etched, Harvard University, MIT PRIMES, The Roxbury Latin School
- **Education:** Secondary school, The Roxbury Latin School, Mathematics and computer science studies; left before graduating, Harvard University
- **Known for:** Published original combinatorics research as a secondary-school student in 2019., Co-founded Etched, which shipped its first inference rack to Jane Street in August 2026., Named by Etched as a Harvard Thiel Fellow.

## Career timeline

- **2019** — Presented combinatorics research at the MIT PRIMES conference and posted a paper on permutations and rim hooks.
- **2022** — Co-founded Etched while studying at Harvard; the company was incorporated in October.
- **2023** — Etched raised a $5.36 million seed round; Zhu left Harvard and moved to the Bay Area with co-founder Gavin Uberti.
- **2026-06** — Etched said its first A0 silicon had returned from TSMC and it was validating rack-scale systems.
- **2026-08** — Etched announced its first customer rack had shipped to Jane Street and a $700 million round led by Jane Street.

## Achievements

- Published original combinatorics research as a secondary-school student in 2019.
- Co-founded Etched, which shipped its first inference rack to Jane Street in August 2026.
- Named by Etched as a Harvard Thiel Fellow.

## Latest updates

- **2026-08** — Etched announced its first rack was running in Jane Street’s data center and that Jane Street led a $700 million financing at a $21 billion valuation.
- **2026-06** — Etched reported A0 silicon from TSMC, a team of more than 400, and production work to meet over $1 billion in customer contracts.

## Links

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/czhu1729
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/czhu1729

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/chris-zhu
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-09-30