Japanese AI chip startup Preferred Networks plans to go public within the next few years to raise funds for mass-producing semiconductors, Bloomberg News reported Monday, citing CEO Daisuke Okanohara.

The Tokyo-based company intends to deliver new chip samples in the first half of next year and launch them commercially by December 2027, the news wire said.

It aims to become profitable within three years before pursuing a listing, the report said.

Preferred Networks builds industrial large language models and, through a joint venture, works with SoftBank (TYO:9984), Sony (TYO:6758), and Honda (TYO:7267) to develop a homegrown multimodal foundation model, according to the report.

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