Google reached a settlement in its $1.67 billion case against Singular

Back in 2019, Singular Computing filed a lawsuit against Google over possible patent infringement. The company alleged that Google used some of Singular’s technology to power its AI chips during the late 2010s. Well, on the day that the closing arguments were to take place, Google and Singular Computing reached a settlement.

Right now, we don’t have the finer details of the settlement; that all remains behind closed doors. So we don’t know how much the company had to pay. We’re sure that it was much less than the $1.67 billion that Singular was seeking.

Google and Singular Computing finally reached a settlement in the case

Singular company founder Joseph Bates alleged that Google used some of his key technology to develop the fundamental AI chips that would be used by products such as Gmail, Google Translate, Google Search, Etc. Bates showcased some of his technology to Google between 2010 and 2014. However, it appeared that he had a “look but don’t touch policy”.

A few years later in 2016, Google brought some processing chips to help power its AI products at the time. However, the lawsuit claims that versions 2 and 3 of these AI chips infringe on Bates patents. These are the chips introduced between 2017 and 2018.

Google claimed that these chips were developed independently of Bates’s influence. It said that the technology used was “fundamentally different than what is described in Singular’s patents.” Be that as it may, internal emails were presented to the court which may point to the contrary. Jeff Dean, the company’s current chief scientist, allegedly wrote an internal email to others saying how Bates’s ideas could be “really well suited” for what the company was working on. That’s pretty damning evidence, but it wasn’t enough to shut the case.

Again, we don’t know how much money was tossed about in the settlement. Also, we don’t really know if this lawsuit will affect any of Google’s chips going forward.