Naveen Rao, previously the head of artificial intelligence at Databricks, is in the process of raising $1 billion for his new startup, Unconventional, Inc., which is valued at $5 billion. The investment round is led by Andreessen Horowitz, with participation from Lightspeed and Lux Capital. Rao has already secured hundreds of millions and plans to begin operations before the full funding is finalized. His goal is to develop a new type of computer that mimics biological efficiency without its limitations. Rao's previous ventures include MosaicML, acquired by Databricks for $1.3 billion, and Nervana Systems, acquired by Intel. His new startup aims to compete with Nvidia by integrating custom silicon chips and server infrastructure.