SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korean artificial intelligence chip makers Rebellions Inc. and Sapeon Korea Inc. have signed a definitive merger agreement, the privately held companies said on Sunday.

They announced merger talks in June. The deal is the latest attempt by the South Korean companies to challenge global AI chip leaders like Nvidia (NASDAQ:).

Sapeon’s shareholders include South Korea’s largest telecommunications company SK Telecom and the world’s second-largest memory chip maker SK Hynix.

Rebellions has received a $15 million investment from venture capital firm Wa’ed Ventures. Saudi Aramco (TADAWUL:), in July. Rebellions said this brought their total funding to more than $225 million.