EINDHOVEN, Netherlands--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct 8, 2026--
Axelera AI, the leading provider of purpose-built AI hardware acceleration technology, today announced the appointments of Osman Kent and Catherine Lewis La Torre CBE to its board as non-executive directors. Together they bring decades of experience building silicon companies and scaling businesses through Europe’s private capital markets.
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“Osman is one of the luminaries of deep tech in Europe and helped invent the GPU, and Catherine has spent 35 years backing and building Europe’s innovation economy,” said Fabrizio Del Maffeo, CEO and co-founder of Axelera AI. “Their experience will be invaluable as we grow our global commercial scale.”
Kent co-founded and led 3Dlabs, a one time $1 billion NASDAQ-listed chip company widely credited as one of the earliest architects of the GPU, and later co-founded Numecent. He holds 21 U.S. patents and has been a venture partner at Atlantic Bridge Capital since 2018, focusing on foundational AI and fabless chip companies.
“I’ve been following Axelera since its inception and it is doing for AI inference what 3Dlabs did for graphics: showing the world that Europe can build world leading AI technology companies at commercial scale,” said Kent.
Lewis La Torre has more than 35 years of experience in private equity and venture capital, including co-founding her own private equity fund management firm in 1999. Between 2016 and 2023 she served as Chief Executive of the British Business Bank and its commercial investment companies, leading the Bank to become the largest domestic institutional investor in venture capital funds and technology companies in the UK and overseeing the delivery of the UK's Covid-19 business support schemes. She sits on the boards of HSBC Innovation Banking UK and Alantra Partners and is an adviser to Octopus Energy Generation.
“Axelera is exactly the kind of European deep tech company that can compete globally in AI,” said Lewis La Torre. “For years I have focused on helping companies that can make a real difference in deep tech, life sciences, and climate; Axelera technology works across all of these segments and I’m excited to help the team turn technical leadership into lasting commercial success.”
About Axelera AI
Axelera AI is a European AI semiconductor company developing next-generation AI acceleration hardware for edge computing and data center applications. With an edge-first architecture that addresses AI’s critical energy and cooling constraints, Axelera AI has deployed across more than 600 customers including in telecommunications, aerospace, and enterprise sectors. The company’s Europa and Metis platforms deliver high-performance AI inference solutions that enable deployment at scale within real-world power and thermal budgets. Through its Partner Accelerator Network and Voyager SDK, Axelera AI provides a comprehensive ecosystem approach that ensures accessibility and rapid deployment.
Veteran GPU pioneer, Osman Kent and former British Business Bank CEO, Catherine Lewis La Torre join Axelera AI board
ATLANTA (AP) — The New York Liberty opted not to advance the ball for a better shot at a tying 3-pointer, then said after their loss Wednesday night that officials told them they didn't have a reset timeout left.
The Liberty inbounded the ball under the basket, forcing them to go the length of the court, after Angel Reese made two free throws to give the Atlanta Dream a three-point lead with 4.3 seconds remaining in overtime. The broadcast of the game showed that the Liberty had their reset, which is a WNBA rule allowing a team to advance the ball to halfcourt without going back to its bench to huddle.
Breanna Stewart missed a 32-foot attempt and the Dream took a 2-0 lead in the WNBA semifinals with their 101-98 victory.
WNBA rules state that “each team is entitled to one Reset in the final two minutes of the fourth period and one Reset in the last two minutes of any overtime period.”
The Liberty had used both regular timeouts in overtime — they lost a coach's challenge to cost them one — but hadn't used their reset. Yet Stewart said they were told it wasn't available.
“This is not blaming the refs, but when I ask both refs if we have a reset timeout again, and they tell us no, and we leave the game with a reset timeout, it's pretty frustrating,” Stewart said. “Yeah, OK, I kind of got a good look at the end, but we'd just like to have some clarity on that situation as well.”
Stewart clarified that the conversation with the officials happened while Reese was at the line.
“I asked Kevin (referee Kevin Fahy), I said, ‘Do we have a reset timeout?’ And he said, ‘I’m going to check with the table.’ So then he goes to Fatou (crew chief Fatou Cissoko-Stephens) and she said no. So he told me no,” Stewart said. “Of course, who knows what would have happened to end the game, but we would have had hopefully a better shot on goal.”
The WNBA's pool report, conducted with Cissoko-Stephens, contradicted Stewart.
“Stewart was standing behind referee Fahy when he confirmed with his partner between Reese's penalty free throws that New York did indeed have a reset timeout remaining,” Cissoko-Stephens said.
Further in the pool report, the league clarified the protocols around timeout tracking.
“Available timeouts are tracked by the scorer's table and statistical staff," Cissoko-Stephens said. “Teams are responsible for managing and tracking their timeout usage throughout the game. Officials may confirm the status of timeouts with the table when necessary, but they do not officially track timeouts.”
New York coach Chris DeMarco, like Stewart, said he was told the team did not have a timeout, which referees also disputed.
“There was no direction communication with the officials (and) the team,” Cissoko-Stephens said.
Atlanta coach Karl Smesko was surprised the Liberty didn't advance the ball.
“I thought they had a timeout left,” Smesko said. “I was expecting it to be advanced, but it wasn't. So we had to play, and fortunately we were able to get the stop.”
The Liberty made an official inquiry with the WNBA.
See AP’s full WNBA coverage here
New York forward Breanna Stewart (30) dribbles against Atlanta during the first half in Game 2 of the WNBA basketball semifinals, Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Daniel Varnado)
Atlanta Dream forward Angel Reese (5) and New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart (30) fight for a rebound during the second half in Game 2 of the WNBA basketball semifinals, Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Daniel Varnado)
New York Liberty guard Pauline Astier (18) watches during the second half in Game 2 of the WNBA basketball semifinals against Atlanta Dream, Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Daniel Varnado)
