# Bolt Graphics tests Zeus GPU design on a 6mm² chip ahead of 2028 production

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/bolt-graphics-powers-on-its-first-zeus-gpu/
- Published: 2026-10-31T17:30:00+00:00
- Updated: 2026-10-31T17:47:56+00:00
- Original publisher: Engadget
- Original article: https://www.engadget.com/2301962/bolt-graphics-powers-on-first-zeus-gpu/
- Topics: Americas, World

## Key points

- Bolt’s first Zeus test chip powered on successfully.
- The planned GPU is not expected in volume production until 2028.
- Performance claims remain unverified, with no named customers.

## Summary

Bolt Graphics has powered on its first Zeus project silicon, a small test chip that the California startup says ran without issues. The milestone suggests its design can run on custom hardware, but the planned Zeus GPU remains years from production, with volume manufacturing not expected until 2028.

Made by TSMC on a 12nm process, the 6mm² test chip draws 1.4 watts, down from 35 watts for the FPGA used to prototype the design. It is designed to accelerate electromagnetic simulations; Bolt has not released performance figures, though it says the chip exceeded internal estimates. The separate Zeus GPU is planned for TSMC’s N5P process, with RISC-V cores, path-tracing hardware and expandable memory up to 384GB. Bolt’s claims of up to ten times the rendering performance of Nvidia’s RTX 5090 have not been independently tested, and it has not named customers.

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