MemComputing, Inc. was founded in 2016 by UC San Diego (UCSD) entrepreneur-in-residence John Beane and the inventors of the memcomputing technology, UCSD theoretical physicists Dr. Fabio Traversa and Dr. Massimiliano Di Ventra. Their goal was to commercialize a radically new computing paradigm inspired by physics and the human brain, patented by the inventors while at UCSD. The founders spun the company out with the university’s blessing after securing exclusive worldwide rights to the technology.
The founders set out to build and test an initial prototype of a memcomputing-based chip—with John personally funding the early development efforts. To validate its performance, they engaged the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC), a globally respected authority in high-performance computing, as an independent third-party evaluator. SDSC’s analysis confirmed the prototype’s extraordinary speed and scalability, demonstrating performance improvements over a million times faster than conventional methods. This early success proved that memcomputing was not just a promising theory but a working solution capable of transforming high-performance computing.
With this, John, as CEO, found external funding to begin productizing the technology. Fabio joined the company full-time as CTO, and Max remains on the board but maintained his role as a tenured physics professor. With seed funding, John and Fabio built a small team and productized the prototype. The company released the cloud-based MEMCPU Platform in 2019. Their first commercial solution was a fully optimized routing solution for a fleet of autonomous vehicles for one of the largest port authorities in the world. During the pandemic, there was significant interest in their technology. They addressed several problems for large players like Lockheed Martin, Chevron, BP, Airbus, Ball Aerospace, the Air Force, Space Force, and NASA. These included worldwide aircraft schedules, aircraft loading optimization, multiple optimized shipping schedules, and optimization solutions for drone swarms, satellite placement, orbits, roles, and communications. Their greatest accomplishment demonstrated the memcomputing technology’s ability to break RSA encryption.
Inspired by his work on memcomputing, Dr. Traversa recognized that there were several ways to improve current digital circuit technology to take full advantage of the digital nature of circuits. This approach is completely antithetical to the von Neumann architecture that traditional semiconductor companies can’t seem to break away from. In parallel with the applications of the MEMCPU Platform, Dr. Traversa submitted several groundbreaking chip designs representing this paradigm shift. Recognizing the advantages of these new chip technologies, the company evolved from software emulation of the original computer model to a bold new chapter: developing new semiconductor hardware for the future of AI and edge computing. Today, the company’s growing chip portfolio includes:
MEMAI Chips – Ultra-efficient AI processors deliver breakthrough speed and energy savings with stealthy architecture.
MEMGPU Chips – High-performance image and signal processors for edge systems that surpass traditional GPUs in speed and energy use.
MEM5G Chips – Linear system accelerators enabling real-time Massive MIMO and beamforming computations in advanced 5G networks.
MEMCPU Chips – Specialized processors that solve complex optimization problems—including real-time RSA encryption breaking—at scale, rivaling the promise of quantum computing.
Today, MemComputing stands at the brink of its next major milestone. After years of intensive research, development, and validation, we are preparing to release our first generation of chips over the coming months. These groundbreaking processors will begin to power the systems and networks that drive our world—from AI to advanced communications to complex optimization. What started as a bold vision to redefine computation is now becoming a reality as MemComputing’s technology moves from pioneering prototypes to real-world impact on a global scale.