Nov 12 (Reuters) - Networking gear maker Juniper

Networks ( JNPR ) has invested in artificial intelligence firm

Recogni as part of a $102 million late-stage funding round, the

companies said on Tuesday.

Recogni said it will collaborate with Juniper Networks ( JNPR ) to

build an AI inference system that can be installed in server

racks.

Cloud service providers have been investing billions in data

center infrastructure, including servers for training AI models

and AI inferencing, which involves models making predictions or

decisions based on new and unseen data.

"Currently, we're focused on being an infrastructure

supplier into data centers, providing the compute that's needed

to run the largest generative AI multimodal models," Recogni CEO

Marc Bolitho told Reuters.

Earlier this year, Hewlett Packard Enterprise ( HPE ) said

it would buy Juniper Networks ( JNPR ) for $14 billion in an all-cash

deal, as it looks to spruce up the company's AI offerings.

The AI startup is developing its second chip for generative

AI with chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co ( TSM )

and the inference system is set to go into production

in 2026, Recogni said.

The startup in August unveiled a novel computing method that

could make its chips used to train and run artificial

intelligence systems smaller, faster and less expensive to

operate.

The fundraising round was co-led by venture capital firms

Celesta Capital and GreatPoint Ventures, the startup said;

however, it did not disclose a valuation figure.

Venture capital arms of BMW, Bosch and Toyota ( TM )

had invested in the AI firm previously.