Assertion Contradicted AI assessment confidence: 85% certainty 4/5 debate potential 2/5

Marr: Epirus invented chips capable of handling up to 2,000 volts

Bo Marmon · Force Fields & Directed Energy Are Here! How Epirus Is Changing Defense Tech · Joe Lonsdale · Dec 15, 2021 · at 9:57

Bo Marr, co-founder and CTO of Epirus, explains how wide-bandgap semiconductor materials enable digital solid-state power management at voltages previously limited to analog hardware.

0:00 / 0:09exact quote · 9.7s

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“So what we've invented is a gallium nitride chips and a silicon carbide chips. These new chips That can handle 1200 volts, 2000 volts. So we've digitized.”

quote is from the automated transcript, cleaned for reading: filler sounds and stutters are removed, nothing is rephrased. names can be misheard (the analysis reads context, assessments check outside sources). how →

The claim, plainly

Epirus has developed gallium nitride and silicon carbide chips capable of handling between 1,200 and 2,000 volts.

a quote alone can be ambiguous, so this restates it with the references and context of the conversation around it resolved. AI-written; the tape below the player is the source.

Assessment

On December 15, 2021, then-CTO Bo Marr stated on the American Optimist podcast that Epirus had invented/developed gallium nitride (GaN) and silicon carbide (SiC) chips handling between 1,200V and 2,000V. Corporate technical disclosures, patent filings, and independent engineering reviews show this is incorrect. Epirus's proprietary GaN power amplifier circuits operate at drain voltages between 45V and 70V (documented in US Patent US20210057813A1 and US20230015528A1). Technical assessments, including Contrary Research's November 14, 2024 analysis, confirm that Epirus's 'SmartPower' architecture integrates third-party commercial wide-bandgap (GaN/SiC) semiconductors rather than developing or fabricating proprietary 1,200V to 2,000V GaN or SiC semiconductor dies.

Epirus patent US20210057813A1 (published February 25, 2021) and US20230015528A1 (published January 19, 2023) detail solid-state GaN power amplifier stages operating between 45V and 70V.
A November 14, 2024 engineering analysis by Contrary Research confirmed Epirus utilizes commercial off-the-shelf third-party high-voltage GaN/SiC components in its SmartPower modules rather than fabricating proprietary high-voltage power chips.
As of September 2026, no patent disclosures, datasheets, or peer-reviewed publications show Epirus developing proprietary GaN or SiC chips rated for 1,200V to 2,000V operation.

Checked against

[1] kirracapital.com [2] washingtonpost.com [3] jpost.com [4] thesiliconreview.com [5] airandspaceforces.com [6] contrary.com [7] google.com [8] google.com

Epirus GaN SiC chip voltage 1200V 2000V Epirus "gallium nitride" OR "silicon carbide" "volts" "Epirus" "SmartPower" "gallium nitride" "1200" OR "2000" OR "silicon carbide" Epirus gallium nitride silicon carbide 1200 2000 volts "Bo Marr" Epirus "SmartPower" OR "gallium nitride" OR "silicon carbide" "Epirus" patent "1200" OR "2000" OR "volts" site:patents.google.com "Epirus" "GaN" OR "gallium nitride" OR "silicon carbide" "Epirus, Inc." "gate driver" "wide band gap" OR "gallium nitride" OR "silicon carbide" "Epirus" "SmartPower" patent "voltage" "Dual Use GaN Product Developments for Commercial and Defense" "Dual Use GaN Product Developments for Commercial and Defense" Epirus Epirus SmartPower gallium nitride silicon carbide patent

assessed as of 2026-09-05

This assessment is an AI reading of a public statement, made against the cited references with the confidence shown. It can be wrong. The quote, the tape and the references are all on this page; if something is off, use report an error below. full disclaimer →

Mentioned

Epirus gallium nitride silicon carbide

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