The company has collected $170 million in new capital as it seeks to help connect data centers and other businesses in the age of artificial intelligence.

As Silicon Valley has obsessed over artificial intelligence, significant attention has been paid to technology underpinning it: advanced computer chips, large language models and so on.

Less has been devoted to the pipes that help deliver A.I. — networking equipment.

But that has been changing, as companies and investors see the potential of improving relatively prosaic equipment like switches and access points to supercharge A.I. offerings. The latest sign is that Meter, a San Francisco-based start-up that sells packages of networking equipment, plans to announce on Thursday that it has raised $170 million at a valuation of more than $1 billion.

The round, which was led by the investment firm General Catalyst and includes backing from the likes of Microsoft and Sequoia Capital, is further evidence that for

Keep reading this article on Andrew Ross Sorkin - DealBook Section Business New York Times.

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