# Blaize Holdings, Inc.: Form 10-K for the period ended Dec 31, 2024 - Company: [Blaize Holdings, Inc.](/companies/bzai.md) (CIK 1871638) - Form: 10-K - Filed: 2025-04-15 - Accepted by EDGAR: Apr 14, 2025, 19:37 ET - Period: 2024-12-31 - Accession: 0000950170-25-053870 - Inline XBRL: yes - Main document: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1871638/000095017025053870/bzai-20241231.htm - All documents and exhibits: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1871638/000095017025053870/ ## Figures reported in this filing Standardized XBRL line items for the period ended 2024-12-31. | Line item | Period | Value | XBRL concept | | --- | --- | ---: | --- | | Operating income | 12 months, 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 | −$5.0m | us-gaap:OperatingIncomeLoss | | Income tax | 12 months, 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 | $517.2k | us-gaap:IncomeTaxExpenseBenefit | | Net income | 12 months, 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 | −$4.1m | us-gaap:NetIncomeLoss | | Operating cash flow | 12 months, 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 | −$2.8m | us-gaap:NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities | | Cash and equivalents | at 2024-12-31 | $1.5k | us-gaap:CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue | | Current assets | at 2024-12-31 | $758.8k | us-gaap:AssetsCurrent | | Total assets | at 2024-12-31 | $48.3m | us-gaap:Assets | | Current liabilities | at 2024-12-31 | $14.0m | us-gaap:LiabilitiesCurrent | | Total liabilities | at 2024-12-31 | $24.1m | us-gaap:Liabilities | | Shareholders' equity | at 2024-12-31 | −$23.4m | us-gaap:StockholdersEquity | ## Business As filed, 33,508 characters. ### Our Company We are a provider of purpose-built, transformative artificial intelligence (“AI”)-enabled edge computing solutions that unite software and silicon to optimize AI from the edge of our customers' networks (the “edge”) to their data centers (the “core”). We provide a full-stack programmable processor architecture suite and low-code/no-code software platform that enables AI processing solutions for high-performance computing at the edge and the core. Our solutions deliver real-time insights and decision-making capabilities at low power consumption, high efficiency, minimal size and low cost. Our mission is to enable enterprises to harness the power of AI at the edge, delivering real-time insights and decision-making capabilities with compelling speed and efficiency. With our innovative hardware and software solutions, we believe we are at the forefront of transforming industries and unlocking new possibilities in an increasingly connected and data-driven world. We provide AI accelerated computing solutions, optimized for vision analytics applications at the edge. This is particularly relevant in the mobility and automotive sectors, where we provide solutions for Level 2 (“L2”) and Level 2+ (“L2+”) applications and collaborate with Original Equipment Manufacturer (“OEMs”) to develop advanced Level 4+ (“L4+”) capabilities, as per the Society of Automotive Engineers’ “Levels of Driving Automation.” Our fully automotive-grade compliant chip roadmap supports our customers' continued evolution and reinforces our commitment to advancing AI-powered autonomy. With over a decade of investment in research and development, we have developed groundbreaking technologies that enable applications, such as computer vision and machine learning, to deploy and run faster and more efficiently. Our engineering team has developed a proprietary parallel computing architecture that serves as the foundation for our products, enabling high-performance AI inference with industry-leading efficiency, delivering significant value to our customers. We are actively developing our next-generation chip, which will introduce enhanced features and capabilities while leveraging the latest advancements in semiconductor processing. Additionally, we plan to offer an intermediate hardware solution for mobility and L2 automotive customers ahead of the launch of our full automotive-grade AI processor. With a strong focus on innovation, performance, and strategic partnerships, we believe we are well positioned to enable organizations to process and analyze their data in real time from core to edge, unlocking new business opportunities and gaining a competitive advantage in the evolving AI landscape. Our integrated approach to AI accelerated computing ensures that enterprises can harness the full potential of AI. ### The Merger On January 13, 2025, subsequent to the end of fiscal year ended December 31, 2024, the fiscal year to which this Annual Report relates, BurTech completed the previously announced business combination pursuant to that certain Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated as of December 22, 2023 (as amended on April 22, 2024, October 24, 2024, and November 21, 2024, the “Merger Agreement”), by and among BurTech, BurTech Merger Sub Inc., a Delaware corporation and a wholly owned subsidiary of BurTech (“Merger Sub”), Blaize, Inc., a Delaware corporation (“Legacy Blaize”) and for the limited purposes set forth therein, Burkhan Capital LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“Burkhan”). As contemplated by the Merger Agreement, on January 13, 2025, Merger Sub merged with and into Legacy Blaize, with Legacy Blaize being the surviving company and a wholly owned subsidiary of BurTech (the "Merger", together with the other transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement, the “Business Combination”). We changed our name from “BurTech Acquisition Corporation” to “Blaize Holdings, Inc.,” in connection with the closing of the Business Combination. The Merger was accounted for as a reverse merger and recapitalization and BurTech was considered the acquired company for financial statement reporting purposes. ### Our Markets Historically, most processing solutions designed for the edge (“edge applications”) were built around cloud and data center-centric infrastructure. In such solutions, data is collected at the edge and is sent back to a centralized location where the real AI processing happens. This approach is power-demanding, adds latency, causes significant data traffic, makes real-time processing difficult, and is less secure. Prompted by the proliferation of data at the edge, industry participants have been looking for ways to enable the power of AI processing where the data is, allowing for effective, real-time decision-making at the edge with greater thermal efficiency, less latency, less power consumption, less costs (including communication costs), ability to keep data local and avoid the burden of cloud and centralized infrastructure. In recent years we have witnessed AI moving from exploration and innovation to deployment phase across most industries. Business leaders and organizations have started to understand the value, benefits and the return on investment of AI, leading to a significant growth in adoption of AI and demand for AI accelerator technologies. We are already engaged in various industries with great potential for the widespread adoption of AI such as automotive, defense, enterprise and more. The adoption of AI in these industries is growing at a healthy rate and is poised to continue to do so in the long term, supported by strong fundamentals such as the adoption of autonomous solutions and generative AI, decentralization of data and AI for data privacy and data ownership and the drive for sustainability. We are well positioned to immediately access the burgeoning AI accelerator market today with our software and solutions, in addition to our rich roadmap, which we believe will allow us to continue to increase our Serviceable Addressable Market (“SAM”). We expect the AI landscape to continue evolving at a rapid pace. Key trends that will impact the future of our industries include adoption of generative AI, large language models (“LLMs”), small language models (“SLMs”), vision transformers and multi-modality. The industry will continue to seek alternatives to incumbent architectures such as the graphic processing unit (“GPU”) and the central processing unit (“CPU”), prioritizing performance, total cost of ownership and ease of use. These characteristics are just as relevant and necessary for data center inference applications as they are for edge AI vision analytics. As the Blaize chip roadmap is enhanced, the inherent advantages of the Graph Streaming Processor (“GSP”) architecture and ease of programmability enable Blaize to remain relevant to market and customer evolution. The AI market is subject to rapid technological changes, evolving industry standards, customer needs and preferences and developing regulations in the United States of America (“U.S.”) and abroad, which have focused on, among other things, safety and efficacy of AI systems, algorithmic discrimination and protection, data privacy and notice and explanation. Further, continued growth in adoption of AI-based technologies will depend, in part, on the reduction of operating and capital costs associated with AI computing, the increase in customer confidence in data protection and privacy related to centralized AI systems, software responsiveness to dynamic data, models and customer needs and transparency in application from data preparation to production. We believe that we help facilitate such growth in adoption by providing a platform which (i) reduces the total cost of ownership of AI across a wide range of use-cases and verticals, (ii) positions the AI computing functions behind customer firewalls for added data privacy and security, (iii) automatically responds to and remediates accuracy and performance-related software issues in the system and (iv) enables and implements open standards and comprehensive auditing capabilities for customers. Blaize also continuously monitors regulatory developments related to the AI market to remain compliant with the latest requirements. Our target markets are large, growing and sustained by strong fundamentals. The drivers for this growth are mainly attributed to an adoption drive across industries for autonomous solutions, traditional and generative AI applications, with the trend moving towards decentralization of data, data privacy and ownership, and the global appetite for sustainability. We target two of the AI market’s highest-impact verticals that require AI accelerated computing at the edge: short cycle industrial and long cycle automotive. ### Short Cycle Industrial Our accelerator cards can be embedded in a variety of host platforms, such as AI boxes, industrial PCs, rugged computer systems, and AI server blades for deployment in racks and data centers. This versatility enables systems based on our products to be deployed across an extensive set of use-cases and market verticals, enabling applications such as computer vision, advanced video analytics and AI inference. Our products and applications can provide optimal solutions to the various needs of enterprise, commercial, industrial and defense customers, while many other current solutions in the market are fragmented, with multiple vendor platforms, leaving customers with the associated cost and complexity of making the pieces work together. We believe we are uniquely positioned to provide value to the market due to the following: - Our programmable hardware and AI Studio software platform enables customers to fully and easily integrate their solutions and deploy to market faster and more efficiently. - The ease of use of our products allows customers to quickly deploy, manage, and extract contextual value from their analytics to meet their needs. We enable our customers to easily update their models when new data becomes available, without having to resort to scarce and expensive data science skilled resources. - Blaize’s dynamic hardware and software solutions enable proactive maintenance, ongoing optimization and enhanced security in tailored applications, such as in full-field asset tracking and monitoring functions related to security and monitoring. ### Long Cycle Automotive Our GSP provides an efficient way to run standard and customized neural networks in automobiles and other transportation vehicles. We expect to use our GSP-based platforms to replace power-consuming GPU and Field Programmable Gate Arrays chips, improving system efficiency advantage and a single scalable architecture across various use cases. In addition, we provide full programmability for a range of platforms, dynamic workloads, and updates. By combining low latency with low power consumption, our GSP is designed to efficiently process AI workloads at the automotive edge, either as an embedded or accelerator solution. We consider our technology to be uniquely positioned to win in this market. The automotive value chain is quickly evolving with profits coming from the ability of automotive OEMs and Tier-1 suppliers to offer software upgrades and new features in the field. Our technology can bring considerable advantages in these applications due to the programmability of the hardware, the support for industry standards and the overall advantage in total cost of ownership. Our technology roadmap is robust and expected to meet the ever-growing complexity and size of models for current and future demands of autonomous driving. ### Our Products Our product portfolio includes highly efficient, programmable AI processors designed for deployment across multiple verticals, including enterprise, industrial, commercial, defense, and automotive markets. Our AI computing platforms power applications such as computer vision, advanced video analytics, and AI inference, all while ensuring compatibility with industry standards for rapid integration into our customers' existing systems and workflows. Additionally, our software tools empower non-expert practitioners to deploy AI models quickly and effectively without the need for extensive coding expertise. We have created an innovative type of AI computing accelerator, the GSP. This processor has been designed from the ground up for computer vision and machine learning applications. It is fully programmable, making it flexible and adaptable for the foreseeable future. The GSP leverages parallelism at data, instruction, task, chip and system level — streamlining execution processing and enabling low energy consumption, high performance and scalability. These advantages are demonstrated time and time again through the numerous technical evaluations that customers undertake on their own data. As the demands of edge AI inference continue to increase at a rapid pace, and customer data is evolving and changing frequently, our GSP has key advantages in enabling customer confidence. Our hardware products are compute cards that incorporate our GSP and come in a comprehensive set of commonly used form factors. We work closely with OEM vendors to qualify these cards to add AI compute acceleration to their systems, delivering solutions across a broad spectrum of performance points and deployment verticals, from edge to data center inference. We continue to expand the range and variety of servers and edge AI boxes powered by us that meet the demands of a wide range of customer use cases. We support industry standard Application Programming Interfaces (“APIs”) and frameworks, enabling customers to execute current models and develop new applications on our hardware. We also provide a comprehensive software suite, Blaize AI Studio (“AI Studio”). This is an intuitive and visual non-code environment intended to simplify the creation and deployment of AI models, with the goal of empowering developers and data scientists to build and optimize AI applications more efficiently. Our AI Studio features a robust set of tools and libraries, and is designed to streamline the development lifecycle, allowing organizations to bring AI-powered solutions to market more quickly. Collaborating with system integrators, software vendors, and hardware manufacturers, we are continuously expanding our technology ecosystem to ensure seamless integration and interoperability with existing infrastructure and AI frameworks. This approach enables organizations to leverage their existing investments while adopting our innovative AI capabilities. The current generation of our products are primarily focused on video analytics applications and AI inference at the edge. Our current technology can address the autonomous systems market for drones, robotics and automotives, including AI accelerators for cockpit, in-cabin and infotainment applications. Our current hardware products place us in a strong position into the rapidly expanding AI accelerator market today. We have worked with many customers in testing and technical evaluations across industries, such as enterprise, defense and automotive. In addition to hardware sales, we believe we are well positioned for growth in our software sales and services through our comprehensive, pre-integrated software stack, vertically integrated solutions, AI Studio development platform, and analytics framework and toolkit. ### Product Roadmap Our product roadmap focuses on creating optimized solutions that can fulfill customer demands for AI applications at the edge. The main target markets include: enterprise, commercial, industrial, and automotive. These markets require low-power systems with highly optimized total cost of ownership, agility and flexibility on development and deployment, and a reliable supply chain. We believe our technology and targeted marketing strategy are designed to deliver products that meet and exceed those requirements. As part of our hardware offering, we deliver solutions that include silicon chips, boards, and systems. These are complemented with full-stack software that includes a Software Development Kit (“SDK”), optimized libraries for visual analytics, AI, high-performance computing, and AI Studio, which is a complete application development and deployment platform that enables customers to create, optimize, deploy, and maintain their own solutions. We believe the scalable and programmable nature of our product architecture positions us well to provide advantageous AI solutions for the rapidly changing demands of AI applications and allows us to differentiate our products from established and emerging competitive alternatives that focus on raw performance for specific and narrow workloads. The existing products will enable us to capture market share for video analytics applications in verticals such as retail, defense and healthcare by embedding in devices such as surveillance and security cameras, edge servers (including edge data centers), drones, machine vision (including industrial automation) and robotics. As these markets are established, we believe we will be able to expand into adjacent verticals through updated hardware and software products. ### Our Strategy The key elements of our strategy for growth include focusing on the following areas: - Scaling through expansion of our current products to reach deeper into our own industry’s verticals and expanding into adjacent verticals. - Growing our ecosystem of hardware manufacturers and independent software vendors specializing across a variety of industry verticals and form new partnerships with them to bring innovative turn- key solutions to market. - Continuing to enhance the features available in AI Studio in order to target a wider community of developers, including universities and other institutes of higher education. - Incorporating market AI trends into the design of our next-generation System-on-a-Chip (“SoC”) to further expand our total addressable market. ### Sales and Marketing Our commercial organization utilizes research to identify key markets and sales opportunities across our target markets. Our marketing activities focus on elevating brand, product and value proposition awareness across the broader industry, with prospects in selected target verticals. This includes participation at trade events, demonstrations of Blaize technology, collaborations and co-promotions with ecosystem partners, social campaigns, competitive positioning and other marketing activities. Our go-to-market (“GTM”) strategy focuses on creating a partnership ecosystem to develop and define a portfolio of end-to-end, market ready solutions powered by our products that addresses enterprise customer requirements in the enterprise, commercial, industrial and defense verticals. We focus our marketing and sales efforts on the following areas: - Hardware powered by Blaize — we build, qualify, and quantify market-ready hardware solutions with a large number of OEMs; - Our unique full stack approach — we are well positioned to deliver fully integrated software and hardware solutions which include innovative developer tools. Unlike alternative hardware vendors, we believe our full-stack approach helps us to engage directly with our customers to deliver solutions that fix their problems and add value to their endeavors. The resulting intimate relationship enables Blaize to gain important insight into customers’ data and needs, which in turn are incorporated into our innovation and product roadmap; - Applications powered by Blaize — our team concentrates on qualifying with application partners that deliver customer-facing software and services in our focused verticals; - Ecosystem channel delivery — we contract with cloud, distribution, integration, and value-add resellers already supporting our target markets; and - Enterprise adoption — we promote market ready solutions powered by Blaize and present use cases that meet our customers’ varying budget and deployment requirements. ### Government Regulations We are subject to various laws and regulations in the U.S. and internationally, which may expose us to liability, increase costs or have other adverse effects that could harm our business. These laws and regulations include but are not limited to data privacy and data localization, copyright or similar laws, anti-spam, consumer protection, employment, and taxation. Compliance with such laws can require changes to our business practices and significant management time and effort. Additionally, as we continue to develop and improve consumer-facing products and services, and as those offerings grow in popularity, the risk that additional laws and regulations will impact our business will continue to increase. ### Data Protection and Privacy All states have adopted laws requiring notice to consumers of certain security breaches involving their personal information. In the event of a security breach, these laws may subject us to incident response, notice and remediation costs. Failure to safeguard data adequately or to destroy data (including personal information) securely could subject us to regulatory investigations, enforcement actions, and litigation under federal or state data privacy, data security, unfair practices, consumer protection, or other laws. The scope and interpretation of these laws could change, and the associated burdens and compliance costs could increase in the future. Privacy and security laws and regulations, cross-border data transfer restrictions, data localization requirements, and other domestic or foreign laws or regulations may expose us to liability, or otherwise adversely affect our business. Laws and regulations related to data privacy and the collection, processing, and disclosure of personal information are constantly evolving. Such laws and regulations could restrict our ability to store and process personal information (in particular, our ability to use personal information for purposes such as risk or fraud avoidance, marketing, or advertising), to control our costs by using certain vendors or service providers in certain jurisdictions and could limit our ability to effectively market or advertise to interested buyers and, in general, increase the resources required to operate our business. Additionally, such laws and regulations are often inconsistent and may be subject to amendment or reinterpretation, which may cause us to incur significant costs and expend significant effort to ensure compliance. The overall regulatory framework for AI and machine learning technologies (“AI Technologies”) is rapidly evolving as many federal, state and foreign government bodies and agencies have introduced, or are currently considering, AI laws and regulations. Additionally, existing laws and regulations may be interpreted in ways that would affect the operation of our AI Technologies. As a result, implementation standards and enforcement practices are likely to remain uncertain for the foreseeable future. For example, in the U.S., the Biden administration issued a broad Executive Order on the Safe, Secure and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence (the “2023 AI Order”) that sets out principles intended to guide AI design and deployment for the public and private sectors and signals the increase in governmental involvement and regulation over AI Technologies. The 2023 AI Order established certain new requirements for the training, testing and cybersecurity of sophisticated AI models and large-scale compute centers used to train AI models and instructed several other federal agencies to promulgate additional regulations. Already agencies such as the Department of Commerce and the Federal Trade Commission have issued proposed rules. On January 20, 2025, President Trump signed an Executive Order revoking the 2023 AI Order, and on January 23, 2025, issued an Executive Order entitled “Removing Barriers to American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence.” The new Executive Order seeks to maintain US leadership in AI innovation, “revokes certain existing AI policies and directives that act as barriers to American AI innovation,” and directs the Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, working with agency heads, to identify such policies and directives. This new Executive Order also requires the development of a new AI action plan within 180 days that must be “free from ideological bias or engineered social agendas.” While this action could indicate a less interventionist approach to AI than the prior administration, it is not clear how this new Executive Order will be implemented or whether it will affect rules issued by other agencies following the principles set forth in the 2023 AI Order. Legislation related to AI Technologies has also been introduced at the federal level and is advancing at the state level. For example, Colorado recently passed an AI Act, which regulates the development, deployment, and use of AI systems and the California Privacy Protection Agency is currently in the process of finalizing regulations under the California Consumer Privacy Act regarding the use of automated decision-making. The developing landscape, and the uncertain interpretation of such landscape, may affect our use of AI Technologies and our ability to provide, improve or commercialize our services, require additional compliance measures and changes to our operations and processes, result in increased compliance costs and potential increases in civil claims against us and could adversely affect our business, operations and financial condition. For more information, please refer to “Risk Factors – We may in the future, use and develop AI, machine learning and automated decision-making technologies throughout our business, which may expose us to certain regulatory and other risks that could adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.” Our failure to comply with these privacy, security and AI laws or regulations could expose us to significant fines and penalties imposed by regulators and has in the past and could in the future expose us to legal claims by buyers, or other relevant stakeholders. Some of these laws permit individual or class action claims for certain alleged violations, increasing the likelihood of such legal claims. Similarly, many of these laws require us to maintain an online privacy policy, terms of service, and other informational pages that disclose our practices regarding the collection, processing, and disclosure of personal information. If these disclosures contain any information that a court or regulator finds to be inaccurate, we could also be exposed to legal or regulatory liability. Any such proceedings or violations could force us to spend money in defense or settlement of these proceedings, harm our reputation, result in the imposition of monetary liability or demanding injunctive relief, divert management’s time and attention, increase our costs of doing business, and materially adversely affect our reputation. ### Anti-Corruption, Sanctions and CFIUS We are subject to the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, as amended (“FCPA”). The FCPA prohibits corporations and individuals from engaging in improper activities to obtain or retain business or to influence a person working in an official capacity. It prohibits, among other things, providing, offering, or promising, directly or indirectly, anything of value to any foreign government official or employee, or any political party or official thereof, or candidate for political office to improperly influence, induce, obtain and retain business from, expedite or secure the performance of official acts of a routine nature, secure an improper advantage, or otherwise violate any of the Anti-Bribery laws, from such or any person. Similar laws exist in other countries, such as the UK, which restrict improper payments to persons in the public or private sector. Many countries have laws prohibiting these types of payments within the respective country. Historically, technology companies have been the target of FCPA and other anti-corruption investigations and penalties. In addition, we are subject to U.S. and foreign laws and regulations that restrict our activities in certain countries and with certain persons. These include the economic sanctions regulations administered by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control and the export control laws administered by the U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security. Investment in the Company by non-U.S. investors may be subject to the jurisdiction of and review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (“CFIUS”), which has the power to rescind or mitigate transactions, or impose monetary penalties for violations of CFIUS regulations. Because we develop technology that is deemed “critical” from a U.S. national security perspective, certain investments by non-U.S. persons or entities could trigger mandatory CFIUS filings before an investment is allowed to close. ### Intellectual Property We believe our success depends in part upon our ability to develop and protect our core technology and intellectual property rights. We have built a portfolio of intellectual property rights, including issued patents and registered trademarks, copyrights, confidential technical information, and expertise in the AI and ML at the edge sectors. We own numerous issued patents and pending patent applications. As of December 31, 2024, we held 39 patents and had 17 pending patent applications. Our patents are expected to expire between June 16, 2031 and September 24, 2044. Our two issued and allowed foreign patents include patents in two separate countries: the United Kingdom and Korea. Our five pending foreign patent applications include patent applications in India. Our patents contain a broad range of claims related to the field of AI and parallel processing architecture. In addition to actively seeking patent protection covering inventions originating from us, from time to time, we review opportunities to acquire or in-license patents to the extent we believe such patents may be useful or relevant to our business. We have filed patent and trademark applications in order to further secure these rights and strengthen our ability to defend against third parties who may infringe on our rights. We also rely on trade secrets, design and manufacturing know-how, and continuing technological innovations to maintain and improve our competitive position. Additionally, we protect our proprietary rights through agreements with our commercial partners, supply-chain vendors, employees, and consultants, as well as close monitoring of the developments and products in the industry. ### Human Capital As of December 31, 2024, we employed a total of approximately 232 people globally, including 56 people on a full-time basis in the U.S. and 164 people on a full-time basis internationally, either directly through our international subsidiaries or through a professional employer organization. This included approximately 166 hardware and software engineers. As the Company scales to deliver on its product roadmap, we expect to significantly expand our engineering teams. We also engage consultants and contractors to supplement our permanent workforce where the skill is specialized and temporary. None of our employees are represented by a labor union or covered by collective bargaining agreements. We believe we have strong and positive relations with our employees. ### Corporate Information Blaize Holdings, Inc. was incorporated in the State of Delaware on March 2, 2021, under the name of BurTech Acquisition Corp. In connection with the consummation of the Merger, we changed our name to Blaize Holdings, Inc. and amended and restated our certificate of incorporation (as amended, the “A&R Charter”), and amended and restated our bylaws (as amended, the “A&R Bylaws”), both effective as of January 13, 2025. Our principal executive office is located at 4659 Golden Foothill Parkway in El Dorado Hills, California, 95762, which is where our records are kept and the principal business address for our executive officers. Our corporate telephone number is (916) 347-0050. ### Available Information We file our annual, periodic and current reports, and other required information, electronically with the SEC. The SEC maintains a website at www.sec.gov that contains reports, proxy and information statements and other information that we file with the SEC electronically. We also make available on our website at https://ir.blaize.com, free of charge, copies of these reports and other information as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with, or furnish it to, the SEC. We use our website, press releases, public conference calls and public webcasts as means of disclosing material non-public information and for complying with our disclosure obligations under Regulation FD. The information disclosed by the foregoing channels could be deemed to be material information. As such, we encourage investors, the media, and others to follow the channels listed above and to review the information disclosed through such channels. The contents of the websites referred to above are not incorporated into this filing. ## Risk factors As filed, 135,789 characters. *The following risk factors should be considered in addition to the other information, including Item 7. and Item 8., of this Annual Report. The following risks could harm our business, financial condition, results of operations or reputation, which could cause our stock price to decline. Additional risks, trends and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we currently believe are immaterial may also harm our business, financial condition, results of operations or reputation. Our actual results could differ materially and adversely from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of certain factors, including those set forth below.* ### Risk Factors Summary The following is a summary of the principal risks and uncertainties described in more detail in this annual report: - We have a history of operating losses, and we may not be able to generate sufficient revenue to achieve and sustain profitability. - Our independent registered public accounting firm’s report contains an explanatory paragraph that expresses substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. - Our partnerships with certain automotive OEMs and Tier-1 suppliers are long-term in nature and we will not receive firm purchase order commitments until we deliver our auto-grade chip. - Our future revenue and operating results will be harmed if we are unable to acquire new customers, retain existing customers, terminate existing customer or partnership contracts or expand sales to our existing customers. - We may not be able to successfully implement our growth strategy on a timely basis or at all. - Failure to effectively develop and expand our marketing and sales capabilities could harm our ability to increase our customer base and achieve broader market acceptance of our platform and products. - Our sales cycle with large enterprise customers can be long and unpredictable, and our sales efforts require considerable time and expense. - If we fail to maintain or grow our brand recognition, our ability to expand our customer base will be impaired and our financial condition may suffer. - If we fail to offer high quality support, our business and reputation could suffer. - We depend on timely supply of materials sourced from a limited number of suppliers, and are directly impacted by unexpected delays or problems from our third-party manufacturers. - We depend on third-party manufacturers, including Samsung Foundry and Plexus, for producing our products, and in the event of a disruption in our supply chain, any efforts to develop alternative supply sources may not be successful or may take longer to take effect than anticipated. - If we fail to improve and enhance the functionality, performance, reliability, design, security and scalability of our platform and products and innovate and introduce new solutions in a manner that responds to our customers’ evolving needs, our business may be adversely affected. - If we fail to manage our growth effectively, we may be unable to execute our business plan, maintain high levels of service and customer satisfaction or adequately address competitive challenges. - We may acquire or invest in companies, which may divert our management’s attention and result in additional dilution to our stockholders. We may be unable to integrate acquired businesses and technologies successfully or achieve the expected benefits of such acquisitions. - We face intense competition, especially from well-established companies offering solutions and related applications. We may lack sufficient financial or other resources to maintain or improve our competitive position, which may harm our ability to add new customers, retain existing customers and grow our business. - We may need to reduce or change our pricing model to remain competitive. - If we fail to adapt and respond effectively to rapidly changing technology, evolving industry standards, and changing customer needs or preferences, our platform and products may become less competitive. - The estimates of market opportunity and forecasts of market growth included in this Annual Report may prove to be inaccurate. Even if the market in which we compete achieves the forecasted growth, our business could fail to grow at similar rates, if at all. - We depend on our senior management team and the loss of one or more key employees or an inability to attract and retain highly skilled employees may adversely affect our business. - If we are unable to hire, retain and motivate qualified personnel, our business will suffer. - If our software or hardware contains serious errors or defects, we may lose revenue and market acceptance and may incur costs to defend or settle claims with our customers. - We process proprietary, confidential, and personal information, which may subject us to certain laws or other obligations regarding the privacy and security of such information. If we fail to comply with applicable laws or obligations, or if the confidentiality, integrity, or availability of this information or our information technology systems is compromised, our reputation may be harmed and we may be exposed to liability and loss of business. - We currently optimize, quantize and fine-tune existing AI models and may in the future, use and develop AI, machine learning and automated decision-making technologies throughout our business, which may expose us to certain regulatory and other risks that could adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition. - We depend on third-party data hosting and transmission services. Increases in cost, interruptions in service, latency or poor service from our third-party data center providers could impair the delivery of our platform, which could result in customer dissatisfaction, damage to our reputation, loss of customers, limited growth and reduction in revenue. - We rely on third-party proprietary and open source materials for our platform. Our inability to obtain third-party licenses for such materials, or obtain them on favorable terms, or any errors, bugs, defects or failures caused by such materials could adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition. - Our use of open source software or datasets could subject us to possible litigation or cause us to subject our platform or products to unwanted open source license conditions that could negatively impact our sales. - We could incur substantial costs in protecting or defending our proprietary rights. Failure to adequately protect our rights could impair our competitive position and we could lose valuable assets, experience reduced revenue and incur costly litigation. - We conduct, and Legacy Blaize conducted, a portion of its business with third-party ecosystem partners to provide defensive solutions that incorporate our products to various foreign and domestic government agencies, which are subject to unique risks. - We may be subject to additional obligations to collect and remit sales tax and other taxes. We may be subject to tax liability for past sales, which could harm our business. - The market price of shares of our common stock may be volatile or may decline regardless of our operating performance. You may lose some or all of your investment. - The market price of our common stock is and could remain highly volatile, and has declined and may continue to decline regardless of our operating performance. You may lose some or all of your investment. - Our ability to timely raise capital in the future may be limited, or may be unavailable on acceptable terms, if at all. Our failure to raise capital when needed could harm our business, operating results and financial condition. Debt issued to raise additional capital may reduce the value of our common stock. - The requirements of being a public company, including compliance with the reporting requirements of the Exchange Act, the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (the “Sarbanes-Oxley Act”) and the requirements of the Nasdaq, may strain our resources, increase our costs and require additional attention of management, and we may be unable to comply with these requirements in a timely or cost-effective manner. - Our management has limited experience in operating a public company and may not be able to adequately develop and implement the governance, compliance, risk management and control infrastructure and culture required for a public company, including compliance with the Sarbanes Oxley Act. - Some provisions of Delaware law and our certificate of incorporation and bylaws may deter third parties from acquiring us and diminish the value of our Common Stock. - Our failure to timely and effectively implement controls and procedures required by Section 404(a) of the Sarbanes‑Oxley Act could negatively impact our business. ### Risks Related to our Business and Industry ***We have a history of operating losses, and we may not be able to generate sufficient revenue to achieve and sustain profitability.*** We have not yet achieved profitability. During the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, we incurred operating losses of $47.6 million and $38.5 million, respectively, and used cash in operating activities of $53.5 million and $28.0 million, respectively. As of December 31, 2024, we had an accumulated deficit of $429.3 million. In recent periods, our revenue growth has been attributed to non-recurring engineering (“NRE”) engagements with automotive partners as well as, beginning in the fourth quarter of 2022, to limited quantities of production product shipments to customers. We intend to continue investing heavily in sales and marketing efforts, but we may not be able to sustain or increase our growth or achieve profitability in the future. In addition, we expect to incur significant additional legal, accounting and other expenses related to us being a public company as compared to when we were a private company. While our revenue has grown in recent years, if our revenue declines or fails to grow at a rate faster than these increases in our operating expenses, we will not be able to achieve and maintain profitability in future periods. As a result, we may continue to generate losses. We cannot assure you that we will achieve profitability in the future or that, if we do become profitable, we will be able to sustain profitability. In 2024, we commenced a program to develop our next-generation silicon products, which are expected to remain in development for at least two years before becoming available for sale. Such chip development is a highly complex process involving specialized third-party partners, and we cannot guarantee that the chip will initially perform as designed. Additionally, we may encounter unforeseen operating expenses, difficulties, complications, delays, and other unknown factors that may result in losses in future periods. If these losses exceed our expectations or our revenue growth expectations are not met in future periods, our financial performance will be harmed. ### Our recent growth rates may not be indicative of our future growth. Our prior years revenue has largely consisted of NRE revenue received from our strategic partners. We have developed a customer pipeline in recent years and are commencing the delivery of hardware and software solutions based on our production chip that came to market at the end of 2022. This pipeline is expected to convert into revenues from 2024/2025 onwards, but it may not convert in the timeline we expect or at all. In future periods, we may not be able to sustain customer pipeline growth consistent with recent history, or at all. The conversion of our pipeline is also not guaranteed as there are several external dependencies that we do not control, before the end customer is ready to deploy AI solutions. Furthermore, we believe our revenue growth depends on a number of factors, including our ability to: - expand our eco-system of partners for hardware and software solutions; - attract new customers and retain and increase sales to existing customers; - maintain and expand our relationships with our customers; - develop our existing platform and products, introduce new functionality to our platform and develop new products; - expand into new market segments and internationally; and - secure long-term revenue commitments from automotive Original Equipment Manufacturers (“OEMs”) and Tier-1 suppliers. We may not accomplish any of these objectives and, as a result, it is difficult for us to forecast our future revenue or revenue growth. If our assumptions are incorrect or change in reaction to changes in our market, or if we are unable to maintain consistent revenue or revenue growth, our stock price could be volatile, and it may be difficult to achieve and maintain profitability. You should not rely on our revenue for any prior periods as any indication of our future revenue or revenue growth. ***Our independent registered public accounting firm’s report contains an explanatory paragraph that expresses substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern.*** Our independent registered public accounting firm has included an explanatory paragraph expressing substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern in its report for the year ended December 31, 2024, included in the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K/A, filed on April 14, 2025. Our consolidated financial statements have been prepared on a going concern basis, which contemplates the realization of assets and the discharge of liabilities in the normal course of business. The Company’s ability to continue to meet its obligations, to achieve its business objectives and continue as a going concern is dependent upon several factors, including the Company’s revenue growth rate, the timing and extent of spending to support further sales and marketing and research and development efforts. Although the Company intends to raise additional capital through issuances of additional debt and equity, as well as through the consummation of the Business Combination, and is currently taking actions to both source and preserve cash through a combination of the issuance of convertible notes and a possible capital market transaction and has received additional funding in 2024, there is no assurance that additional financing will be available at terms acceptable to us or at all. These factors raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. If we cannot continue as a viable entity, this could materially adversely affect the value of our securities. ***Our partnerships with certain automotive OEMs and Tier-1 suppliers are long-term in nature and we will not receive firm purchase order commitments until we deliver our auto-grade chip.*** We have been working with automotive partners for several years and secured long term joint development agreements for revenue predicated upon the Company delivering automotive-grade chips to them. The nature of Advanced Driving Assistance Systems (“ADAS”) is still evolving with OEMs continuing to develop their strategies. We believe that our technology is well positioned to be a key contributor in the solutions that are adopted but we do not control the pace at which the industry is moving to deploy ADAS of increasing complexity into their vehicles. Additionally, in 2023 and 2024, we teamed up with one automotive OEM, Mercedes-Benz North America Corporation (“Mercedes-Benz”), and their partner vendors to evaluate their requirements for an advanced L4 platform. This is intended to be in production by the end of this decade and a phase 1 evaluation recently concluded in the second quarter of 2024. To date, we have recognized approximately $25.0 million and $7.0 million in non-recurring engineering fees from DENSO and Mercedes-Benz, respectively. We anticipate that Blaize will be well positioned to resume this relationship with Mercedes-Benz once it has confirmed its ADAS roadmap and selected all other relevant partners for their next-level platform. However, Blaize has not yet entered into any contractual arrangements for this engagement and ADAS solutions with Mercedes-Benz based on Blaize’s technology are not expected to be in production until 2028 or later. Our partnership with our main Tier-1 supplier, DENSO Corporation (“DENSO”) continues with projects centered around Blaize’s software and hardware offerings, including a Proof of Concept Agreement (as defined herein) with aggregate proceeds of approximately $3.0 million upon its completion, as described further in the section entitled “Information About Blaize — Material Contracts.” Blaize intends to continue to build on our current relationships with Mercedes-Benz and DENSO and to establish new relationships with other automotive OEMs and Tier-1 and Tier-2 partners now and in the future but we do not believe Blaize is reliant on either of Mercedes-Benz or DENSO currently or in the future. Blaize’s product roadmap expects to have solutions for ADAS in production beginning in 2028 and we anticipate recognizing revenues from these potential future partnerships with automotive OEMs and Tier-1 and Tier-2 partners. Our ability to continue to invest in developing automotive-grade chips and software depends upon having access to a large amount of capital that is expected to be sourced from revenues into other non- automotive markets, based on our current set of products. A shortfall in those revenues will significantly impact our automotive roadmap and automotive OEMs and Tier-1 and Tier-2 partners, including Mercedes-Benz and DENSO, may choose to adopt competing technologies. If this occurs, it will be extremely difficult to retain our specialist automotive skills and there is a high risk of losing that expertise altogether. ***Our future revenue and operating results will be harmed if we are unable to acquire new customers, retain existing customers, terminate existing customer or partnership contracts or expand sales to our existing customers.*** The majority of revenues that Blaize has generated to date are through paid proof-of-concepts or NRE concepts. Our ability to increase revenue also depends, in part, on our ability to retain existing customers and to sell additional functionality and adjacent products and services to our existing and new customers. In order for us to maintain or improve our results of operations, it is important that our customers renew their contracts with us on the same or more favorable terms to us. Our ability to increase sales to existing customers and prospective customers depends on several factors, including their experience with using our products and our pricing model. Additionally, we or our counterparty may terminate existing or future contracts to which we are party, either for convenience or due to a default, and, in the future, if the portion of contracts that are subject to termination at the election of us or counterparties are material, any such termination may increase our costs and seriously harm our business, results of operations and financial condition. Our ability to generate revenue may be inconsistent across small and midsize businesses, mid-market, and large enterprise customers, including government agencies, both foreign and domestic. If we experience limited or inconsistent growth in any of these customer sets, particularly our large enterprise customers, our business, financial condition and operating results could be adversely affected. ***We may not be able to successfully implement our growth strategy on a timely basis or at all.*** Our future growth, profitability and cash flows depend upon our ability to successfully implement our growth strategy, which, in turn, is dependent upon a number of factors, including our ability to: - expand our eco-system of partners for hardware and software solutions; - grow our current customer base; - acquire new customers; - scale our business model; - expand our customer location footprint; - ensure a consistent and timely supply chain; - expand our presence within verticals; - continue to innovate our product offerings; and - selectively pursue strategic and value-enhancing acquisitions. There can be no assurance that we can successfully achieve any or all of the above initiatives in the manner or time period that we expect. Further, achieving these objectives will require investments which may result in short-term costs without generating any current revenue and therefore may be dilutive to our earnings. We cannot provide any assurance that we will realize, in full or in part, the anticipated benefits we expect our strategy will achieve. The failure to realize those benefits could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. ***Failure to effectively develop and expand our marketing and sales capabilities could harm our ability to increase our customer base and achieve broader market acceptance of our platform and products.*** Our ability to increase our customer base and achieve broader market acceptance of our platform and products will depend on our ability to expand our marketing and sales operations. We plan to continue increasing the size of our sales force. We also plan to dedicate significant resources to sales and marketing programs, including developing an extensive third-party partner ecosystem. Our business and operating results will be harmed if our sales and marketing efforts do not generate a corresponding increase in revenue. We may not achieve anticipated revenue growth from increasing the size of our sales force if we are unable to hire, develop, and retain talented sales personnel, if our new sales personnel are unable to achieve desired productivity levels in a reasonable period of time, or if our sales and marketing programs are not effective. ***Our sales cycle with large enterprise customers can be long and unpredictable, and our sales efforts require considerable time and expense.*** The timing of our sales with our large enterprise customers and related revenue recognition is difficult to predict because of the length and unpredictability of the sales cycle for these customers. Large enterprise customers, particularly those in highly regulated industries and those requiring customized applications, may have a lengthy sales cycle for the evaluation and implementation of our platform and/or sales of products. This may cause a delay between increasing operating expenses for such sales efforts and, upon successful sales, the generation of corresponding revenue. Customers often view our platform and products as a strategic decision with significant investment. As a result, customers frequently require considerable time to evaluate, test, and qualify our platform and products prior to entering into or expanding a subscription or purchase order. During the sales cycle, we expend significant time and money on sales and marketing and contract negotiation activities, which may not result in a sale. Additional factors that may influence the length and variability of our sales cycle include: - the effectiveness of our sales force as we hire and train our new salespeople to sell to large enterprise customers; - the discretionary nature of purchasing and budget cycles and decisions; - the obstacles placed by customers’ procurement process; - economic conditions and other factors impacting customer budgets; - customers’ integration complexity; - customers’ familiarity with edge computing solutions; - customers’ evaluation of competing products during the purchasing process; - evolving customer demands; - the adoption and implementation of regulations that affect our ability to obtain customers in certain regions of the world outside of the U.S.; and - the adoption and implementation of regulations within the U.S. that impose supply chain and manufacturing location restrictions. Given these factors, it is difficult to predict whether and when a sale will be completed, and when revenue from a sale will be recognized. Consequently, a shortfall in demand for our platform and products or a decline in new or renewed contracts in a given period may not significantly reduce our revenue for that period but could negatively affect our revenue in future periods. ***If we fail to maintain or grow our brand recognition, our ability to expand our customer base will be impaired and our financial condition may suffer.*** We believe maintaining and growing our brand is important to supporting continued acceptance of our existing and future solutions, attracting new customers to our platform and products, and retaining existing customers. We also believe that the importance of brand recognition will increase as competition in our market increases. Successfully maintaining our brand will depend largely on the effectiveness of our marketing efforts, our ability to provide a reliable and useful platform and products to meet the needs of our customers at competitive prices, our ability to maintain our customers’ trust, our ability to continue to develop new functionality and solutions and our ability to successfully differentiate our platform and products. Brand promotion activities may not generate customer awareness or yield increased revenue. Even if they do, any increased revenue may not offset the expenses we incurred in building our brand. If we fail to successfully promote and maintain our brand, we may fail to attract enough new customers or retain our existing customers to realize a sufficient return on our brand-building efforts, and our business could suffer. ***If we fail to offer high quality support, our business and reputation could suffer.*** Our customers rely on our personnel for support related to our subscription and customer solutions. High-quality support is important for the renewal and expansion of our agreements with existing customers. The importance of high-quality support will increase as we expand our business and pursue new customers, particularly large enterprise customers. If we do not help our customers quickly resolve issues and provide effective ongoing support, our ability to sell new software to existing and new customers could suffer and our reputation with existing or potential customers could be harmed. In many cases, we will rely upon third-party partners to provide first-line support. Our inability to hire technical support staff in a timely manner, whether due to market conditions or our own budget constraints, would also affect the quality of support for our customers and partners and could potentially result in business and reputational harms. ***We depend on timely supply of materials sourced from a limited number of suppliers, and are directly impacted by unexpected delays or problems from our third-party manufacturers.*** Any disruption in the supply chain, such as shortages, unexpected delays or price increases, could significantly impact our manufacturing process and financial stability. Additionally, we are highly dependent on third-party manufacturers for complex processes like wafer fabrication and assembly; therefore, any problems or unexpected delays from these third-party manufacturers could also negatively impact our business and financial performance. Further, we rely on certain external partners for critical manufacturing steps, including our wafer fabrication and assembly and testing processes which exposes us to significant risks. These processes are highly sensitive, and even minor contamination or technical glitches during wafer fabrication can render a substantial portion of the component unusable. Identifying such problems early in the production cycle and resolving them in a timely manner is often difficult, expensive and time consuming. Therefore, any issues that arise from our third-party manufacturers could lead to production delays, increased costs, and could potentially lead to a compromise in the quality and performance of our products, which could significantly impact our business and financial results. ***We depend on third-party manufacturers, including Samsung Foundry and Plexus, for producing our products, and in the event of a disruption in our supply chain, any efforts to develop alternative supply sources may not be successful or may take longer to take effect than anticipated.*** As a fabless company, Blaize does not manufacture its own semiconductor or SoC products and currently relies on third-party manufacturers, including Samsung Foundry and Plexus, to produce our products. Additionally, Blaize has a design, manufacturing and sales agreement with VeriSilicon, Inc. (“VeriSilicon”) that provides Blaize with design expertise, support and assistance, and certain deliverables, prototypes, products and services from VeriSilicon. Blaize cannot be sure that these manufacturers will remain in business, or that they will not be purchased by one of Blaize’s competitors or another company that is not interested in continuing to produce these products for Blaize’s intended purpose. Our reliance on these third-party manufacturers subjects us to a number of risks that include, among other things: - the interruption of supply resulting from modifications to or discontinuation of a manufacturer’s operations; - delays in product shipments resulting from uncorrected defects, reliability issues or a manufacturer’s variation in a component; - a lack of long-term supply arrangements with our manufacturers; - a delay in delivery due to its suppliers’ prioritizing other customer orders over Blaize’s; - damage to our reputation caused by defective products produced by our suppliers; - fluctuation in delivery by our suppliers due to changes in demand from our or their other customers; - interruptions, shortages, delivery delays and potential discontinuation of supply as a result of any recurrence of pandemics such as COVID-19, or other reasons outside Blaize’s control; - political, legal and economic changes, crises or instability and civil unrest in the jurisdictions where Blaize’s manufacturers’ plants are located, such as changes in China-Taiwan relations that may adversely affect Blaize’s manufacturers’ and suppliers’ operations; - currency conversion risks and exchange rate fluctuations; and - compliance requirements of U.S. customs and international trade regulations. Although Blaize’s semiconductor or SoC products could be produced by other manufacturers, any attempt to transition our supply arrangement to one or more other manufacturers could entail significant coordination and expense and could lead to delays in production. If Blaize is unable to arrange for sufficient production capacity among our contract manufacturers or if our contract manufacturers encounter production, quality, financial, or other difficulties, Blaize may encounter difficulty in meeting customer demands as it seeks alternative sources of supply, or it may have to make financial accommodations to such contract manufacturers or otherwise take steps to mitigate supply disruption. Any alternative manufacturers may be unable or unwilling to meet Blaize’s and its customers’ specifications. In addition, Blaize may experience supply shortages from some of its suppliers such as what it experienced as a result of the COVID-19 lockdown in China. Any disruption in supply from any supplier or manufacturing location could lead to supply delays or interruptions that could damage Blaize’s business or financial condition. If any of the risks discussed above materialize, costs could significantly increase, and Blaize’s ability to meet demand for its products could be impacted. ***If we fail to improve and enhance the functionality, performance, reliability, design, security and scalability of our platform and products and innovate and introduce new solutions in a manner that responds to our customers’ evolving needs, our business may be adversely affected.*** The markets in which we compete are characterized by constant change and innovation and we expect them to continue to evolve rapidly, including the potential that our industry transitions to alternative algorithmic approaches to machine learning and artificial intelligence, such as Transformer models. Our success has been based on our ability to identify and anticipate the needs of our customers and design a platform and products that provide them with the breadth of tools that are required. Our ability to attract new customers, retain revenue from existing customers and increase sales to both new and existing customers will depend in large part on our ability to continue to improve and enhance the functionality, performance, reliability, design, security and scalability of our platform and products and to innovate and introduce new solutions. Additionally, our investment in the design of new chips depends on our ability to anticipate market trends and the competitive landscape more than two years in advance. We expect that new services and technologies applicable to the industries in which we operate will continue to emerge and evolve, including developments in artificial intelligence and edge computing. These new products and technologies may be superior to, impair or render obsolete our platform and the products we currently offer or the technologies we currently use to provide them. We have in the past, and may experience in the future, difficulties with software development that could delay or prevent the development, introduction or implementation of new solutions and enhancements. Software development involves a significant amount of time, resources and cost for our research and development team, as it can take our developers months to update, code and test new and upgraded solutions and integrate them into our platform and products. We must also continually update, test and enhance our software platforms. The continual improvement and enhancement of our platform and products requires significant investment and we may not have the resources to make such investment. Our improvements and enhancements may not result in our ability to recoup our investments in a timely manner or at all. We may make significant investments in new solutions or enhancements that may not achieve expected returns. The success of any enhancement or new solution depends on several factors, including the timely completion and market acceptance of the enhancement or new solution. Our ability to develop new enhancements or solutions may also be inhibited by industry-wide standards, laws and regulations, resistance to change by customers, difficulties relating to integration or compatibility with third-party software or hardware or third parties’ intellectual property rights. Any new solution we develop or acquire might not be introduced in a timely or cost-effective manner and might not achieve the broad market acceptance necessary to generate significant revenue. Improving and enhancing the functionality, performance, reliability, design, security and scalability of our platform and products is expensive, time-consuming and complex, and to the extent we are not able to do so in a manner that responds to our customers’ evolving needs, our business, operating results and financial condition will be adversely affected. ***We may not be successful in driving the global deployment and customer adoption of digital offerings characterized by digital applications and solutions.*** Our business involves cloud, edge, AI (including generative AI) and software solutions based on existing AI models, and we are devoting significant resources to develop and deploy such strategies. Our success with these solutions will depend on the level of adoption of our offerings. We incur costs to develop cloud, edge, AI and software solutions and to build and maintain infrastructure to support cloud and edge computing offerings. Success with these solutions depends on execution in many areas, including: - establishing and maintaining the utility, compatibility, and performance of our cloud, edge, AI and software solutions (including the reliability of our third-party software vendors, network and cloud providers) on a growing array of medical devices, software and equipment; - continuing to enhance the attractiveness of our solutions to our customers in the face of increasing competition from a significant number of existing and new entrants in the market, while ensuring these solutions meet their reliability and security expectations; - establishing lasting relationships with key server and edge-AI box manufacturers; - ensuring these solutions meet regulatory requirements in a fast-moving space disrupted by changing regulations around data privacy and the need for innovation, including obtaining marketing authorizations when required; and - adapting to ever-changing geopolitical regulations on advanced technologies, including AI Technologies. It is uncertain whether our strategies will attract customers or generate revenue required to succeed in this highly competitive and rapidly changing global market. We commit substantial efforts, funds, and other resources to research and development and information technology infrastructure for our digital offerings, and the risk of failure is inherent. Even where our digital offerings satisfy applicable regulations and reimbursement policies, customers may not adopt them due to concerns about the security of personal data or the absence of digital infrastructure to support and effectively use the offerings, a hesitancy to embrace new technology, or for other reasons. We also may not effectively execute organizational and technical changes to accelerate innovation and execution. In a number of countries, certain cloud, edge, AI and software solutions are restricted areas of foreign investment. Collaborating with a domestic, qualified third party will increase costs and may create uncertainties in such jurisdictions. The legality or validity of any collaboration may be challenged or subjected to scrutiny in such jurisdictions and the relevant governmental authorities have broad discretion in addressing such arrangements. Any of these risks could have a material adverse effect on our business results, cash flows, financial condition, or prospects. Additionally, we may be making significant investments in AI initiatives and are building AI into many of our digital offerings. We are planning to leverage generative AI such as large language models across our portfolios to build differentiated products and solutions and deploy those solutions through various modalities for our customers, including on the device, via edge or data centers, and/or via the cloud. Using AI in this manner presents risks and challenges that could affect its adoption, acceptance and effectiveness, including flawed AI algorithms, insufficient, overbroad or biased datasets, unauthorized access to personal data, lack of acceptance from our customers or failure to deliver positive outcomes. We contract with numerous third parties to offer our digital content to customers as well as to assist with the development of their own software applications and services, and our reliance on access to these third parties’ digital applications, which may not continue to be available to us on commercially reasonable terms, or at all, could impact our ability to offer a wide variety of our own digital offerings at reasonable prices with acceptable usage tools, or continue to expand our geographic reach. The occurrence of any of the above could have a material adverse effect on our business results, cash flows, financial condition or prospects. ***If we fail to manage our growth effectively, we may be unable to execute our business plan, maintain high levels of service and customer satisfaction or adequately address competitive challenges.*** We may experience rapid growth and organizational change, which may place significant demands on our management and our operational and financial resources. We may also experience growth in the number of customers and the amount of data that our hosting infrastructure supports. Our success will depend in part on our ability to manage this growth effectively. We will require significant capital expenditures and valuable management resources to grow without undermining our culture of innovation, teamwork and attention to customer success, which has been central to our growth so far. If we fail to manage our anticipated growth and change in a manner that preserves our corporate culture, it could negatively affect our reputation and ability to retain and attract customers and employees. We intend to expand our international operations in the future. Our expansion will continue to place a significant strain on our managerial, administrative, financial and other resources. If we are unable to manage our growth successfully, our business and results of operations could suffer. It is important that we maintain a high level of customer service and satisfaction as we expand our business. As our customer base continues to grow, we will need to expand our account management, customer service and other personnel. Failure to manage growth could result in difficulty or delays in launching improvements to our platform or our products, declines in quality or customer satisfaction, increases in costs, difficulties in introducing new features or other operational difficulties. Any of these could adversely impact our business performance and results of operations. ***We may acquire or invest in companies, which may divert our management’s attention and result in additional dilution to our stockholders. We may be unable to integrate acquired businesses and technologies successfully or achieve the expected benefits of such acquisitions.*** We may evaluate and consider potential strategic transactions, including acquisitions of, or investments in, businesses, technologies, services, products and other assets in the future. An acquisition, investment or business relationship may result in unforeseen operating difficulties and expenditures. In particular, we may encounter difficulties assimilating or integrating the businesses, technologies, products, personnel or operations of the acquired companies. Key personnel of the acquired companies may choose not to work for us, their software may not be easily adapted to work with ours, or we may have difficulty retaining the customers of any acquired business due to changes in ownership, management or otherwise. We may also experience difficulties integrating personnel of the acquired company into our business and culture. Acquisitions may also disrupt our business, divert our resources and require significant management attention that would otherwise be available for development of our existing business. The anticipated benefits of any acquisition, investment or business relationship may not be realized or we may be exposed to unknown risks or liabilities. Negotiating these transactions can be time-consuming, difficult and expensive, and our ability to close these transactions may often be subject to approvals that are beyond our control. Consequently, these transactions, even if undertaken and announced, may not close. For one or more of those transactions, we may: - issue additional equity securities that would dilute our stockholders; - use cash that we may need in the future to operate our business; - incur debt on terms unfavorable to us or that we are unable to repay; - incur large charges or substantial liabilities; - encounter difficulties retaining key employees of the acquired company or integrating diverse software codes or business cultures; and - become subject to adverse tax consequences, substantial depreciation or deferred compensation charges. ***We face intense competition, especially from well-established companies offering solutions and related applications. We may lack sufficient financial or other resources to maintain or improve our competitive position, which may harm our ability to add new customers, retain existing customers and grow our business.*** The semiconductor sector is intensely competitive, marked by swift technological advancements, short product lifecycles, price erosion, and constantly evolving benchmarks. Maintaining or improving our business requires constant innovation and timely, cost-effective launches. Our success hinges on our ability to innovate and launch new products and affordably meet shifting industry demands. However, significant investment is needed to develop cutting-edge technologies and products, and some of our competitors may have greater resources than us. If these competitors ramp up their research and development and marketing efforts, we may struggle to compete effectively. The market for edge computing solutions is also evolving and highly competitive. We expect competition to increase in the future from established competitors and new market entrants. With the introduction of new technologies and the entry of new companies into the market, we expect competition to persist and intensify in the future. This could harm our ability to increase sales, maintain or increase renewals, and maintain our prices. We face intense competition from other companies that may offer related platforms and products. Merger and acquisition activity in the technology industry could increase the likelihood that we compete with large technology companies. Many of our existing competitors have, and our potential competitors could have, substantial competitive advantages such as greater name recognition, longer operating histories, larger sales and marketing budgets and resources, greater customer support resources, lower labor and development costs, better terms and pricing from Electronic Design Automation suppliers, design partners, part suppliers and chip, board and system manufacturers, larger and more mature intellectual property portfolios and substantially greater financial, technical and other resources. Some of our larger competitors also have substantially broader product lines and market focus and will therefore not be as susceptible to downturns in a particular market. Conditions in our market could change rapidly and significantly as a result of technological advancements, partnering by our competitors or continuing market consolidation. New start-up companies that innovate, and large companies that are making significant investments in research and development, may invent similar or superior products and technologies that compete with our platform and products. In addition, some of our competitors may enter into new alliances with each other or may establish or strengthen cooperative relationships with agency partners, technology and application providers in complementary categories or other parties. Any such consolidation, acquisition, alliance or cooperative relationship could lead to pricing pressure, a loss of market share or a smaller addressable share of the market. It could also result in a competitor with greater financial, technical, marketing, service and other resources, all of which could harm our ability to compete. ### We may need to reduce or change our pricing model to remain competitive. We price our platform and products based on delivering a compelling Total Cost of Ownership (“TCO”) advantage to customers. However, the completed product may have hardware and software components from our third-party ecosystem partners which affects our ability to control pricing. We expect that we may need to change our pricing from time to time. As new or existing competitors introduce products that compete with ours or reduce their prices, we may be unable to attract new customers or retain existing customers. We also must determine the appropriate price to enable us to compete effectively internationally. Large enterprise customers may demand substantial price discounts as part of the negotiation of sales contracts. As a result, we may be required or choose to reduce our prices or otherwise change our pricing model, which could adversely affect our business, operating results and financial condition. ***If we fail to adapt and respond effectively to rapidly changing technology, evolving industry standards, and changing customer needs or preferences, our platform and products may become less competitive.*** The edge computing industry is subject to rapid technological change, evolving industry standards and practices and changing customer needs and preferences. The success of our business will depend, in part, on our ability to adapt and respond effectively to these changes on a timely basis. We may introduce significant changes to our platform and products or develop and introduce new and unproven products, including using technologies with which we have little or no prior development or operating experience. If we are unable to develop and sell new technology, features and functionality for our platform and products that satisfy our customers and that keep pace with rapid technological and industry change, our revenue and operating results could be adversely affected. If new technologies emerge that deliver competitive solutions at lower prices, more efficiently, more conveniently or more securely, it could adversely impact our ability to compete. The dominant market-leader in AI has proprietary software around which existing customers have developed and deployed their applications. We acknowledge that our platform must also integrate with a variety of network, hardware, mobile and software platforms and technologies. Customers may choose to continue to operate with the incumbent software which will make it hard for us to break into the market. We may decide to modify and enhance our platform and AI models to adapt to changes and innovation in these technologies. If businesses widely adopt new technologies, we would have to develop new functionality for our platform to work with those new technologies. This development effort may require significant engineering, marketing and sales resources, all of which would affect our business and operating results. Any failure of our platform to operate effectively with future technologies could reduce the demand for our platform. If we are unable to respond to these changes in a cost-effective manner, our platform may become less marketable and less competitive or obsolete, and our operating results may be negatively affected. The novelty of AI, especially as it relates to regulatory matters, safety of AI-driven technology, and security of AI-driven products, exposes us to a higher risk of unforeseen liabilities that can represent a substantial burden on Blaize’s finances to defend against lawsuits or detrimental publicity, or to comply with new regulations imposed on AI technologies or products. Our current chip was designed over 3 years ago and it is possible that in certain situations, it may not be competitive in performance and features. This will impact our ability to deliver the revenue forecast until the next-generation chip is available and we may lose key customer opportunities in the meantime. ***The estimates of market opportunity and forecasts of market growth included in this Annual Report may prove to be inaccurate. Even if the market in which we compete achieves the forecasted growth, our business could fail to grow at similar rates, if at all.*** The market for edge computing solutions is relatively new and will experience changes over time. Edge computing market estimates and growth forecasts are uncertain and based on assumptions and estimates that may be inaccurate. Our addressable market depends on a number of factors, including businesses’ desire to differentiate themselves through partnership opportunities, changes in the competitive landscape, technological changes, data security or privacy concerns, customer budgetary constraints, changes in business practices, changes in the regulatory environment and changes in economic conditions. Even if the market in which we compete meets the size estimates and growth rates we forecast, our business could fail to grow at similar rates, if at all. ***We anticipate that our operations will continue to increase in complexity as we grow, which will create management challenges.*** Our business is expected to experience growth and is complex. We expect this growth would cause our operations to become increasingly complex. To manage this expected growth, we continue to make substantial investments to improve our operational, financial and management controls, as well as our reporting systems and procedures. We may not be able to implement and scale improvements to our systems and processes in a timely or efficient manner or in a manner that does not negatively affect our operating results. For example, we may not be able to effectively monitor certain extraordinary contract requirements or individually negotiated provisions as the number of transactions grows. Our systems and processes may not prevent or detect all errors, omissions or fraud. We may have difficulty managing improvements to our systems, processes and controls or in connection with third-party software. This could impair our ability to provide our platform or products to our customers, causing us to lose customers, limiting our platform or products to less significant updates or increasing our technical support costs. If we are unable to manage this complexity, our business, operations, operating results and financial condition may suffer. As our customer base grows, we will need to expand our services and other personnel, and maintain and enhance our partnerships, to provide a high level of customer service. We also will need to manage our sales processes as our sales personnel and partner network continue to grow and become more complex, and as we continue to expand into new geographies and market segments. If we do not effectively manage this increasing complexity, the quality of our platform, products and customer service could suffer, and we may not be able to adequately address competitive challenges. These factors could impair our ability to attract and retain customers and expand our customers’ use of our platform and products. ***We depend on our senior management team and the loss of one or more key employees or an inability to attract and retain highly skilled employees may adversely affect our business.*** Our success depends largely upon the continued services of our executive officers and certain key employees, whom we rely on for research and development, marketing, sales, services and general and administrative functions. From time to time, our executive management team may change from the hiring or departure of executives, which could disrupt our business. Other than the employment agreements with our founders, we do not have employment agreements with our executive officers or other key personnel that require them to continue to work for us for any specified period; therefore, they could terminate their employment with us at any time. The loss of one or more of our executive officers or key employees could have a serious adverse effect on our business. To execute our growth plan, we must attract and retain highly qualified personnel. Competition for these personnel is intense. If we are unable to attract such personnel in cities where we are located, we may need to hire in other locations, which may add to the complexity and costs of our business operations. We expect to continue to experience difficulty in hiring and retaining employees with appropriate qualifications. Many of the companies with which we compete for experienced personnel have greater resources than we have. If we hire employees from competitors or other companies, their former employers may attempt to assert that these employees or we have breached legal obligations, resulting in a diversion of our time and resources. In addition, job candidates and existing employees often consider the value of the stock awards they receive in connection with their employment. If the perceived value of our stock awards declines, it may adversely affect our ability to recruit and retain highly skilled employees. If we fail to attract new personnel or fail to retain and motivate our current personnel, it could adversely affect our business and future growth prospects. ***If we are unable to hire, retain and motivate qualified personnel, our business will suffer.*** Our future success depends, in part, on our ability to continue to attract and retain highly skilled personnel. Our ability to identify, hire, develop, motivate and retain qualified personnel will directly affect our ability to maintain and grow our business, and such efforts will require significant time, expense and attention. The inability to attract or retain qualified personnel or delays in hiring required personnel may seriously harm our business, financial condition and operating results. Our ability to continue to attract and retain highly skilled personnel, specifically employees with technical and engineering skills and employees with high levels of experience in designing and developing software and automotive solutions, will be critical to our future success. In addition, to the extent we hire personnel from competitors, we may be subject to allegations that they have been improperly solicited or have divulged proprietary or other confidential information. Wage inflation in certain geographies in which Blaize competes for highly skilled talent has been extremely high in the past few years. Although we have managed to retain our key employees, there has still been some level of attrition and there is no guarantee that we will be able to continue to retain these key employees or respond to these conditions if these trends continue. While we have in the past and intend to continue to issue options or other equity awards as key components of our overall compensation and employee attraction and retention efforts, we are required under GAAP to recognize compensation expense in our operating results for employee stock-based compensation under our equity grant programs, which may increase the pressure to limit stock-based compensation. ***If we are unable to maintain our corporate culture as we grow, we could lose the innovation, teamwork, passion and focus on execution that we believe contribute to our success, and our business may be harmed.*** We believe a portion of our success has been our corporate culture. We have invested substantial time and resources in building our team. As we grow and develop our infrastructure as a public company, our operations may become increasingly complex. We may find it difficult to maintain these important aspects of our corporate culture. Any failure to preserve our culture could negatively affect our future success, including our ability to retain and recruit personnel, and to effectively focus on and pursue our corporate objectives. ***If our software or hardware contains serious errors or defects, we may lose revenue and market acceptance and may incur costs to defend or settle claims with our customers.*** Software and hardware such as ours often contain errors, defects, security vulnerabilities or software bugs that are difficult to detect and correct, particularly when first introduced or when new versions or enhancements are released. Despite internal testing, our platform and products may contain serious errors or defects, security vulnerabilities or software bugs that we may be unable to successfully correct in a timely manner or at all, which could result in lost revenue, significant expenditures of capital, a delay or loss in market acceptance and damage to our reputation and brand, any of which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. To the extent we deploy new versions or enhancements to our platform or products that contain errors, defects, security vulnerabilities or software bugs, the consequences may be severe. Such defects could expose us to product liability claims, litigation or regulatory action. Errors, defects, security vulnerabilities, service interruptions or software bugs in our platform or products could result in losses to our customers. Our customers may seek significant compensation from us for any losses they suffer or cease conducting business with us altogether. Further, a customer could share information about bad experiences on social media, which could result in damage to our reputation and loss of future sales. There can be no assurance that provisions typically included in our agreements with our customers that attempt to limit our exposure to claims would be enforceable or adequate or would otherwise protect us from liabilities or damages with respect to any particular claim. Even if not successful, a claim brought against us by any of our customers would likely be time-consuming and costly to defend and could seriously damage our reputation and brand, making it harder for us to sell our solutions. ***We process proprietary, confidential and personal information which may subject us to certain laws or other obligations regarding the privacy and security of such information. If we fail to comply with applicable laws or obligations, or if the confidentiality, integrity, or availability of this information or our information technology systems is compromised, our reputation may be harmed and we may be exposed to liability and loss of business.*** As part of our normal business activities, we collect, transmit, use, disclose, store and otherwise process proprietary, confidential and personal information (“Confidential Information”) including of our employees, employees of our customers and other third parties with which we do business and any personal information that may be uploaded to our services by our customers. As such, we are subject to federal, state, and foreign laws regarding cybersecurity, privacy, and the processing of personal information. For example, the EU/UK General Data Protection Regulation, the California Consumer Privacy Act, and related laws in other jurisdictions require us to adhere to certain disclosure restrictions and deletion obligations with respect to the personal information of their residents, and allow for penalties for violations and, in some cases, a private right of action. These laws also impose transparency and other obligations with respect to personal information of their respective residents and provide residents with similar rights with respect to their personal information. Moreover, many jurisdictions have enacted laws requiring companies to notify individuals of security breaches involving certain types of personal information. The regulatory environment surrounding information security, privacy, and the processing of personal information is increasingly demanding, with frequent imposition of new and changing requirements that are subject to differing interpretations and create a complex compliance environment. In some cases, these requirements may be either unclear in their interpretation and application or they may have inconsistent or conflicting requirements with each other. Further, there has been a substantial increase in legislative activity and regulatory focus on data privacy and security in the U.S., Europe, and elsewhere, including in relation to cybersecurity incidents. We use third-party service providers and subprocessors to help us deliver services to our customers. These service providers and subprocessors may also collect, transmit, use, disclose, store and otherwise process Confidential Information. Such Confidential Information, and the information technology systems (“IT Systems”) that store such information, face numerous and evolving cybersecurity risks that threaten the confidentiality, integrity and availability of such IT Systems and Confidential Information, including as a result of third-party action, employee or contractor error or malfeasance, nation state malfeasance, malware, phishing, computer hackers, system error, software, viruses, bugs or defects, process failure or otherwise. Any of these could result in the failure of our IT Systems or the loss of Confidential Information. Further, because our products and services are integrated with our customers’ systems and processes, any circumvention or failure of our cybersecurity defenses or measures could compromise the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of our customers’ own IT Systems and/or Confidential Information as well. Information security risks for companies such as ours have significantly increased in recent years in part because of the proliferation of new technologies, the use of internet and telecommunications technologies to conduct financial transactions and the increased sophistication and activities of organized crime, hackers, terrorists and other external parties, as well as nation-state and nation-state-supported actors. Because the techniques and tools (including AI) used to obtain unauthorized access or sabotage systems change frequently, may originate from less regulated and remote areas of the world and be difficult to detect and generally are not identified until they are launched against a target, we may be unable to anticipate these techniques or to implement adequate preventative measures. Even if such a data breach did not arise out of our action or inaction, or even if it were to solely affect one or more of our competitors or our customers, the resulting concern could negatively affect our customers and our business. Concerns regarding data privacy and security may cause some of our customers to stop using our platform or products. In addition, failures to meet our customers’ expectations with respect to security and confidentiality of their data and information could damage our reputation and affect our ability to retain customers, attract new customers and grow our business. While we have implemented certain security measures designed to protect against breaches of security, we may fail to properly assess and understand the risks and cannot guarantee that these measures will be effective. Like other companies, we have been the subject of various cyber incidents. While we believe these incidents have not been material, we cannot guarantee that any future will not have a material impact. Our failure to comply with legal, contractual or standards-based requirements around the privacy or security of Confidential Information (including personal information) could lead to significant fines and penalties, exposure to indemnification obligations, governmental investigations and enforcement actions, litigation (including class actions) or adverse publicity. Additionally, it is possible that new laws, regulations and other requirements, or amendments to or changes in interpretations of existing laws, regulations and other requirements, may require us to incur significant costs, implement new processes, or change our handling of information and business operations, which could ultimately hinder our ability to grow our business by extracting value from our data assets. Further, any adverse impact to the availability, integrity or confidentiality of our IT Systems or Confidential Information can result in legal claims or proceedings (such as class actions), regulatory investigations and enforcement actions, fines and penalties, negative reputational impacts that cause us to lose existing or future customers, and/or significant incident response, system restoration or remediation and future compliance costs. Any of the foregoing could force us to spend money in defense or settlement of proceedings, result in the imposition of monetary liability or injunctive relief, divert management’s time and attention, increase our costs of doing business and adversely affect our reputation and the demand for our platform and products, which could materially adversely affect our business, results of operations, and financial condition. Further, our insurance coverage, including coverage for errors and omissions and cyber liability, may not continue to be available on acceptable terms or may not be available in sufficient amounts to cover one or more large claims. Our insurers could deny coverage as to any future claim and our cyber liability coverage may not adequately protect us against any losses, liabilities and costs that we may incur. The successful assertion of one or more large claims against us, or changes in our insurance policies, including premium increases or the imposition of large deductible or co-insurance requirements, could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. ***We currently optimize, quantize and fine-tune existing AI models and may in the future, use and develop AI, machine learning and automated decision-making technologies throughout our business, which may expose us to certain regulatory and other risks that could adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.*** We use AI Technologies throughout our business and are making significant investments in this area. For example, we use AI Technologies internally to prepare data provided by customers for assisting such customers with AI development when using AI Studio. As with many technological innovations, there are significant risks involved in developing, maintaining and deploying these technologies and there can be no assurance that the usage of, or our investments in, such technologies will always enhance our products or services or be beneficial to our business, including our efficiency or profitability. In particular, if the models underlying our AI Technologies are incorrectly designed or implemented; trained or reliant on incomplete, inadequate, inaccurate, biased or otherwise poor quality data or on data to which we do not have sufficient rights or in relation to which we and/or the providers of such data have not implemented sufficient legal compliance measures; used without sufficient oversight and governance to ensure their responsible use; and/or adversely impacted by unforeseen defects, technical challenges, cybersecurity threats or material performance issues, the performance of our products, services and business, as well as our reputation, and the reputations of our customers, could suffer or we could incur liability resulting from the violation of laws or contracts to which we are party or civil claims. We expect that increased investment will be required in the future to continuously improve our use of AI Technologies, and we may plan to increase our investment in this area to continuously improve our use of AI Technologies and our products. In particular, we will be working to incorporate generative AI Technologies (i.e., AI Technologies that can produce and output new content, software code, data and information) into our solutions. There is a risk that generative AI Technologies could produce inaccurate or misleading content or other discriminatory or unexpected results or behaviors, such as hallucinatory behavior that can generate irrelevant, nonsensical or factually incorrect results, all of which could harm our reputation, business or customer relationships. We will take measures designed to ensure the accuracy of such AI generated content, such as investing into development and acceleration of Small Language or Multimodal models, which are typically domain-optimized and more narrowly focused in an effort to reduce risks of hallucination. However, those measures may not always be successful, and in some cases, we may need to rely on end users to report such inaccuracies. In addition, our ability to develop proprietary AI models may be limited by our access to processing infrastructure or training data and we may be dependent on third-party providers for such resources. As such, we may not be successful in our ongoing development and maintenance of these technologies in the face of novel and evolving technical, reputational and market factors. Further, a number of aspects of intellectual property rights protection in the field of AI and machine learning are currently under development and there is uncertainty and ongoing litigation in different jurisdictions as to the degree and extent of protection warranted for AI and machine learning systems and relevant system input and outputs. If we fail to obtain protection for the intellectual property rights concerning our AI Technologies, or later have our intellectual property rights invalidated or otherwise diminished, our competitors may be able to take advantage of our research and development efforts to develop competing products that could adversely affect our business, reputation and financial condition. Further, given the long history of development of AI Technologies, other parties may have (or in the future may obtain) patents or other proprietary rights that would prevent, limit or interfere with our ability to make, use or sell our own AI Technologies. Finally, the overall regulatory framework for AI Technologies is rapidly evolving as many federal, state and foreign government bodies and agencies have introduced, or are currently considering, additional laws and regulations. Additionally, existing laws and regulations may be interpreted in ways that would affect the operation of our AI Technologies. As a result, implementation standards and enforcement practices are likely to remain uncertain for the foreseeable future. For example, in the U.S., the 2023 AI Order that sets out principles intended to guide AI design and deployment for the public and private sectors and signals the increase in governmental involvement and regulation over AI Technologies. The 2023 AI Order established certain new requirements for the training, testing and cybersecurity of sophisticated AI models and large scale compute centers used to train AI models and instructed several other federal agencies to promulgate additional regulations. Already agencies such as the Department of Commerce and the Federal Trade Commission have issued proposed rules. On January 20, 2025, President Trump signed an Executive Order revoking the 2023 AI Order, and on January 23, 2025, issued an Executive Order entitled “Removing Barriers to American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence.” The new Executive Order seeks to maintain US leadership in AI innovation, “revokes certain existing AI policies and directives that act as barriers to American AI innovation,” and directs the Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, working with agency heads, to identify such policies and directives. The Order also requires the development of a new AI action plan within 180 days that must be “free from ideological bias or engineered social agendas.” While this action could indicate a less interventionist approach to AI then the prior administration, it is not clear how this new Executive Order will be implemented or whether it will affect rules issued by other agencies following the principles set forth in the 2023 AI Order. Legislation related to AI Technologies has also been introduced at the federal level and is advancing at the state level. For example, Colorado recently passed a AI Act, which regulates the development, deployment, and use of artificial intelligence (AI) systems and the California Privacy Protection Agency is currently in the process of finalizing regulations under the California Consumer Privacy Act regarding the use of automated decision-making. The developing landscape, and the uncertain interpretation of such landscape, may affect our use of AI Technologies and our ability to provide, improve or commercialize our services, require additional compliance measures and changes to our operations and processes, result in increased compliance costs and potential increases in civil claims against us and could adversely affect our business, operations and financial condition. ***We depend on third-party data hosting and transmission services. Increases in cost, interruptions in service, latency or poor service from our third-party data center providers could impair the delivery of our platform, which could result in customer dissatisfaction, damage to our reputation, loss of customers, limited growth and reduction in revenue.*** We currently serve the majority of our platform functions from third-party data center hosting facilities operated by Flexential Colorado Corp., located in Morrisville, North Carolina. Our platform is deployed to multiple data centers within this geography, with additional geographies available for disaster recovery. Our operations depend, in part, on our third-party providers’ protection of these facilities from natural disasters, power or telecommunications failures, criminal acts or similar events. If any third-party facility’s arrangement is terminated, or its service lapses, we could experience interruptions in our platform or higher latency, as well as delays and additional expenses in arranging new facilities and services. A significant portion of our operating cost is from our third-party data hosting and transmission services. If the costs for such services increase due to vendor consolidation, regulation, contract renegotiation or otherwise, we may not be able to increase the fees for our ecommerce platform or professional services to cover the changes. As a result, our operating results may be significantly worse than forecasted. Our servers may be unable to achieve or maintain data transmission capacity sufficient for timely service of increased traffic or order processing. Our failure to achieve or maintain sufficient and performant data transmission capacity could significantly reduce demand for our platform. Despite precautions taken at our data centers, spikes in usage volume, a natural disaster, an act of terrorism, vandalism or sabotage, closure of a facility without adequate notice or other unanticipated problems could result in lengthy interruptions or performance degradation of our platform. Any damage to, or failure of, the systems of our third-party providers could result in interruptions to our platform. Even with current and planned disaster recovery arrangements, our business could be harmed. If we experience damage or interruption, our insurance policies may not adequately compensate us for or protect us against any losses, liabilities and costs that we may incur. These factors in turn could further reduce our revenue, subject us to liability or cause customers to terminate their subscriptions, any of which could materially adversely affect our business. ***We rely on third-party proprietary and open source materials for our platform. Our inability to obtain third-party licenses for such materials, or obtain them on favorable terms, or any errors, bugs, defects or failures caused by such materials could adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.*** Some of our offerings include software or other intellectual property rights licensed from third parties. It may be necessary in the future to renew licenses relating to various aspects of these applications or to seek new licenses for existing or new applications. Necessary licenses may not be available on acceptable terms or under open source licenses permitting redistribution in commercial offerings, if at all. Our inability to obtain certain licenses or other rights or to obtain such licenses or rights on favorable terms could result in delays in product releases until equivalent technology can be identified, licensed or developed, if at all, and integrated into our platform and products, which therefore may have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. In addition, third parties may allege that additional licenses are required for our use of their software or intellectual property. We may be unable to obtain such licenses on commercially reasonable terms or at all. The inclusion in our offerings of software or other intellectual property licensed from third parties on a non-exclusive basis could limit our ability to differentiate our offerings from those of our competitors. To the extent that our platform or products depend upon the successful operation of third-party software, any undetected errors, bugs, defects or failures in such third-party software could impair the functionality of our platform and products, delay new feature introductions or result in a failure of our platform, which could adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition. ***Our use of open source software or datasets could subject us to possible litigation or cause us to subject our platform or products to unwanted open source license conditions that could negatively impact our sales.*** Our platform and products incorporate open source software and datasets, and we expect to incorporate open source software and datasets into other offerings or solutions in the future. Such open source material is generally licensed by its authors or other third parties under open source licenses. Little legal precedent governs the interpretation of these licenses; therefore, the potential impact of these terms on our business is unknown and may result in unanticipated obligations regarding our technologies. If a distributor of open source material were to allege that we had not complied with its license, we could be required to incur significant legal expenses. If we combine our proprietary technology with open source material or utilize open source material in a certain manner, we could, under certain open source licenses, be required to disclose part or all of the source code of our proprietary technology publicly and to allow further modification and redistribution on potentially unfavorable terms or at no cost, or otherwise be limited in the licensing of our services. This could provide an advantage to our competitors or other entrants to the market, allow them to create similar products with lower development effort and time, and ultimately result in a loss of sales for us. ***We rely on computer hardware, purchased or leased, and software licensed from and services rendered by third parties in order to run our business.*** We rely on computer hardware, purchased or leased, and software licensed from and services rendered by third parties in order to run our business, which we have incorporated into our platform and products. Third-party hardware, software and services may not continue to be available on commercially reasonable terms, or at all. Some of our agreements with our licensors may be terminated by them for convenience, or otherwise provide for a limited term. Any loss of the right to use or any failures of third-party hardware, software or services could result in delays in our ability to run our business until equivalent hardware, software or services are developed by us or, if available, identified, obtained and integrated, which could be costly and time-consuming and may not result in an equivalent solution, any of which could cause an adverse effect on our business and operating results. Further, customers could assert claims against us in connection with service disruptions or cease conducting business with us altogether. Even if not successful, a claim brought against us by any of our customers would likely be time-consuming and costly to defend and could seriously damage our reputation and brand, making it harder for us to sell our solutions. ***Our growth depends in part on the success of our strategic relationships with third parties.*** We anticipate that the growth of our business will continue to depend on third-party relationships, including strategic partnerships and relationships with our service providers and suppliers, consultants, app developers, theme designers, referral sources, payments processors, installation partners and other partners. In addition to growing our third-party partner ecosystem, we have entered into agreements with, and intend to pursue additional relationships with, other third parties, such as shipping partners and technology and content providers. Identifying, negotiating and documenting relationships with third parties requires significant time and resources as does integrating third-party technology and content. Some of the third parties that sell our services have direct contractual relationships with the customers, and in these circumstances, we risk the loss of such customers if those third parties fail to perform their contractual obligations, including in the event of any such third party’s business failure. Our agreements with providers of cloud hosting, technology, content and consulting services are typically non-exclusive and do not prohibit such service providers from working with our competitors or from offering competing services. In particular, we have limited providers of cloud hosting services. These third-party providers may choose to terminate their relationship with us or to make material changes to their businesses, products or services in a manner that is adverse to us. The success of our platform and products depends, in part, on our ability to integrate third-party applications, themes and other offerings into our third-party ecosystem. Third-party developers may also change the features of their offering of applications or alter the terms governing the use of their offerings in a manner that is adverse to us. If third-party applications change such that we do not or cannot maintain the compatibility of our platform and products with these applications, demand for our platform could decline. If we are unable to maintain technical interoperation, our customers may not be able to effectively integrate our platform with other systems and services they use. We may also be unable to maintain our relationships with certain third-party vendors if we are unable to integrate our platform and products with their offerings. In addition, third-party developers may refuse to partner with us or limit or restrict our access to their offerings. Partners may also impose additional restrictions on the ability of third parties like us and our customers to access or use data from their consumers. Such changes could functionally limit or terminate our ability to use these third-party offerings with our platform or products, which could negatively impact our solution offerings and harm our business. If we fail to integrate our platform and products with new third-party offerings that our customers need for their businesses, or to adapt to the data transfer requirements of such third-party offerings, we may not be able to offer the functionality that our customers and their clients expect, which would negatively impact our offerings and, as a result, harm our business. Further, our competitors may effectively incentivize third-party developers to favor our competitors’ products or services, which could diminish our prospects for collaborations with third-parties and reduce subscriptions to our platform or purchases of our products. In addition, providers of third-party offerings may not perform as expected under our agreements or under their agreements with our customers, and we or our customers may in the future have disagreements or disputes with such providers. If any such disagreements or disputes cause us to lose access to products or services from a particular supplier, or lead us to experience a significant disruption in the supply of products or services from a current supplier, especially a single-source supplier, they could have an adverse effect on our business and operating results. ***We could incur substantial costs in protecting or defending our proprietary rights. Failure to adequately protect our rights could impair our competitive position and we could lose valuable assets, experience reduced revenue and incur costly litigation.*** Our success is dependent, in part, upon protecting our proprietary technology. We rely on our confidentiality, non-compete, non-solicitation and nondisclosure agreements and a combination of trade secret laws, contractual provisions, trademarks, service marks, copyrights and patents in an effort to establish and protect our proprietary rights. However, the steps we take to protect our intellectual property may be inadequate. We make business decisions about when to seek patent protection for a particular technology and when to rely upon trade secret protection. The approach we select may ultimately prove to be inadequate. Our patents or patents issued in the future may not provide us with competitive advantages, or may be successfully challenged by third parties. Any of our patents, trademarks or other intellectual property rights may be challenged or circumvented by others or invalidated through administrative process or litigation. Others may independently develop similar products, duplicate any of our solutions or design around our intellectual property rights or adopt similar or identical brands for competing platforms. Legal standards relating to the validity, enforceability and scope of protection of intellectual property rights are uncertain. Despite our precautions, it may be possible for unauthorized third parties to copy our platform and products and use information that we regard as proprietary to create products and services that compete with ours. Some license provisions restricting unauthorized use, copying, transfer and disclosure of our intellectual property rights may be unenforceable under the laws of jurisdictions outside the U.S.. To the extent we expand our international activities, our exposure to unauthorized copying and use of our platform, products and proprietary information may increase. Moreover, effective trademark, copyright, patent and trade secret protection may not be available or commercially feasible in every country in which we conduct business. Further, intellectual property law, including statutory and case law, particularly in the U.S., is constantly developing. Changes in the law could make it harder for us to enforce our rights. We enter into confidentiality and invention assignment agreements with our employees and consultants to protect our proprietary technologies. We enter into confidentiality agreements with strategic and business partners. As such, these agreements may not be effective in controlling access to and distribution of our proprietary information since they do not prevent our competitors or partners from independently developing technologies that are equivalent or superior to our platform and products. We may be required to spend significant resources to monitor, protect, and enforce our intellectual property rights. Litigation may be necessary in the future to enforce our intellectual property rights and protect our trade secrets. Litigation brought to protect and enforce our intellectual property rights could be costly, time-consuming and distracting to management. Such litigation could result in the impairment or loss of portions of our intellectual property rights. Enforcement of our intellectual property rights may be met with defenses, counterclaims and countersuits attacking the validity and enforceability of our intellectual property. An adverse determination of any litigation proceedings could put our intellectual property rights at risk of being invalidated or interpreted narrowly. An adverse determination could risk the issuance or cancellation of pending patent and trademark filings. Because of the substantial discovery required in connection with intellectual property litigation, our confidential or sensitive information could be compromised by disclosure in litigation. Litigation could result in public disclosure of results of hearings, motions or other interim developments. If securities analysts or investors perceive these results to be negative, it could have a substantial adverse effect on the price of our common stock. In addition, our inability to protect our proprietary technology against unauthorized copying or use, as well as any costly litigation or diversion of our management’s attention and resources, could delay further sales or the implementation of our platform or products, impair the functionality of our platform or products, delay introductions of new functionality to our platform, result in the substitution of inferior or more costly technologies into our platform or products or injure our reputation. We will not be able to protect our intellectual property rights if we are unable to enforce these rights or if we do not detect unauthorized use of our intellectual property rights. Policing unauthorized use of our technologies, trade secrets, and intellectual property rights may be difficult, expensive and time-consuming, particularly in foreign countries where the laws may not be as protective of intellectual property rights as those in the U.S. and where mechanisms for enforcement of intellectual property rights may be weak. If we fail to meaningfully protect our intellectual property rights, our business, operating results and financial condition could be adversely affected. ***If we fail to execute invention assignment agreements with our employees and contractors involved in the development of intellectual property or are unable to protect the confidentiality of our trade secrets, the value of our products and our business and competitive position could be harmed.*** We generally enter into confidentiality and invention assignment agreements with our employees, consultants and third parties upon their commencement of a relationship with us. However, we may not enter into such agreements with all employees, consultants and third parties who are or have been involved in the development of our intellectual property rights. In addition, these agreements may not provide meaningful protection against the unauthorized use or disclosure of our trade secrets or other confidential information, and adequate remedies may not exist if unauthorized use or disclosure were to occur. The exposure of our trade secrets and other proprietary information would impair our competitive advantages and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. In particular, a failure to protect our proprietary rights may allow competitors to copy our technology, which could adversely affect our pricing and market share. Further, other parties may independently develop substantially equivalent know-how and technology. In addition to contractual measures, we try to protect the confidential nature of our proprietary information using commonly accepted physical and technological security measures. Such measures may not, for example, in the case of misappropriation of a trade secret by an employee or third party with authorized access, provide adequate protection for our proprietary information. Our security measures may not prevent an employee or consultant from misappropriating our trade secrets and providing them to a competitor, and recourse we take against such misconduct may not provide an adequate remedy to protect our interests fully. Unauthorized parties may also attempt to copy or reverse engineer certain aspects of our products that we consider proprietary. Enforcing a claim that a party illegally disclosed or misappropriated a trade secret can be difficult, expensive and time-consuming, and the outcome is unpredictable. Even though we use commonly accepted security measures, trade secret violations are often a matter of state law, and the criteria for protection of trade secrets can vary among different jurisdictions. In addition, trade secrets may be independently developed by others in a manner that could prevent legal recourse by us. We also have agreements with our employees, consultants and third parties that obligate them to assign their inventions to us; however, these agreements may not be self-executing, not all employees or consultants may enter into such agreements or employees or consultants may breach or violate the terms of these agreements, and we may not have adequate remedies for any such breach or violation. If any of our intellectual property or confidential or proprietary information, such as our trade secrets, were to be disclosed or misappropriated, or if any such information was independently developed by a competitor, it could have a material adverse effect on our competitive position, business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. ***In general, we are subject to various laws and regulations in the U.S. and internationally, which may expose us to liability, increased costs or have other adverse effects that could harm our business.*** Our business is subject to a variety of laws and regulations. These laws and regulations include but are not limited to data privacy and data localization, copyright or similar laws, export controls and sanctions, anti-spam, consumer protection, employment, and taxation. Compliance with such laws can require changes to our business practices and significant management time and effort. Additionally, as we continue to develop and improve consumer-facing products and services, and as those offerings grow in popularity, the risk that additional laws and regulations will impact our business will continue to increase. For example, privacy laws and regulations, cross-border data transfer restrictions, data localization requirements, and other domestic or foreign laws or regulations may expose us to liability, or otherwise adversely affect our business. Laws and regulations related to data privacy and the collection, processing, and disclosure of consumer personal information are constantly evolving. Such laws and regulations could restrict our ability to store and process personal data (in particular, our ability to use certain data for purposes such as risk or fraud avoidance, marketing, or advertising), to control our costs by using certain vendors or service providers in certain jurisdictions and could limit our ability to effectively market or advertise to interested buyers and, in general, increase the resources required to operate our business. Additionally, such laws and regulations are often inconsistent and may be subject to amendment or reinterpretation, which may cause us to incur significant costs and expend significant effort to ensure compliance. In addition, the overall regulatory framework for AI Technologies is rapidly evolving as many federal, state and foreign government bodies and agencies have introduced, or are currently considering, additional laws and regulations. Additionally, existing laws and regulations may be interpreted in ways that would affect the operation of our AI Technologies. As a result, implementation standards and enforcement practices are likely to remain uncertain for the foreseeable future. ***We are subject to financial and economic sanctions, export controls and similar laws, and non-compliance with such laws can subject us to administrative, civil, and criminal fines and penalties, collateral consequences, remedial measures and legal expenses, all of which could adversely affect our business, results of operations, financial condition and reputation.*** Our platform and products are subject to U.S. export controls, including the Export Administration Regulations and economic sanctions administered by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control. We incorporate encryption technology into our platform. These encryption products and the underlying technology may be exported outside of the U.S. only with the required export authorizations, including by license, a license exception or other appropriate government authorizations. Furthermore, our activities are subject to U.S. economic sanctions laws and regulations that restrict regulated persons from conducting transactions or dealings with certain countries, regions, governments and persons, and are subject to U.S. export control laws that regulate (and in some cases prohibit) the export, re-export, or transfer of items subject to the U.S. Export Administration Regulations. A violation of these laws or regulations could adversely affect our business, results of operations, financial condition and reputation. Recent administrations have been critical of existing trade agreements and may impose more stringent sanctions, export and import controls. Obtaining the necessary export license or other authorization for a particular sale may be time-consuming and may result in the delay or loss of sales opportunities even if the export license ultimately may be granted. While we take precautions to prevent our AI Studio platform and hardware from being exported in violation of these laws, including obtaining authorizations for our platform, performing geolocation IP blocking and screenings against U.S. and other lists of restricted and prohibited persons, we cannot guarantee that the precautions we take will prevent violations or allegations of violations of export control and sanctions laws. In addition, our employees, representatives, or other third parties acting on our behalf may engage in conduct for which we might be held responsible. Violations of U.S. sanctions or export control laws can expose us to reputational harm as well as significant fines or penalties, and possible incarceration for responsible employees and managers could be imposed for criminal violations of these laws, which could adversely affect our business, results of operations, financial condition and reputation. If our partners fail to obtain appropriate import, export or re-export licenses or permits, we may also be adversely affected, through reputational harm as well as other negative consequences, including government investigations and penalties. We are in the process of incorporating export control compliance requirements into our strategic partner agreements; however, no assurance can be given that our partners will comply with such requirements. Various countries regulate the import and export of certain encryption and other technology, including import and export licensing requirements. Some countries have enacted laws that could limit our ability to distribute our AI Studio platform or could limit our customers’ ability to implement our platform in those countries. Changes in our AI Studio platform or future changes in export and import regulations may create delays in the introduction of our AI Studio platform in international markets, prevent our customers with international operations from launching our platform globally or, in some cases, prevent the export or import of our platform to certain countries, governments or persons altogether. Various governmental agencies have proposed additional regulation of encryption technology, including the escrow and government recovery of private encryption keys. Any change in export or import regulations, economic sanctions or related legislation, or change in the countries, governments, persons or technologies targeted by such regulations, could limit our ability to export or sell our platform to existing or potential customers with international operations. Any decreased use of our platform or limitation on our ability to export or sell our AI Studio platform would adversely affect our business, operating results and prospects. Investment in the Company by non-U.S. investors may be subject to the jurisdiction of and review by CFIUS, which has the power to rescind or mitigate transactions, or impose monetary penalties for violations of CFIUS regulations. Because we develop technology that is deemed “critical” from a U.S. national security perspective, certain investments by non-U.S. persons or entities could trigger mandatory CFIUS filings before an investment is allowed to close. ***We conduct, and Legacy Blaize conducted, a portion of its business with third-party ecosystem partners to provide defensive solutions that incorporate our products to various foreign and domestic government agencies, which are subject to unique risks.*** Contracts with the U.S. or foreign governments are subject to extensive regulations, and new regulations, or changes to existing regulations, could increase Blaize’s or its third-party ecosystem partners’ compliance costs, including in the form of withheld payments and/or reduced future business if Blaize or its third-party ecosystem partners fail to comply with these requirements in the future, or otherwise have a material impact on Blaize’s or its third-party ecosystem partners’ business, which could negatively impact Blaize’s financial condition and operating results. Contracts with the U.S. or foreign governments are also subject to a variety of other requirements and risks including government reviews, audits, investigations, False Claims Act cases, suspensions and debarments as well as other legal actions and proceedings that generally do not apply to purely commercial contracts. In addition, transactions involving government contractors may be subject to government review and approvals and may require the contractor to hold certain national security clearances in order to perform them. ***We are subject to anti-corruption, anti-bribery, anti-money laundering and similar laws. Non-compliance with such laws can subject us to criminal and/or civil liability and harm our business.*** We are subject to the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, as amended (“FCPA”), the U.S. domestic bribery statute contained in 18 U.S.C. § 201, the U.S. Travel Act, the UK Bribery Act of 2010, the UK Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, and other anti-bribery and anti-money laundering laws in the countries in which we conduct activities. Anti-corruption and anti-bribery laws have been enforced aggressively in recent years. These laws are interpreted broadly and prohibits, among other things, providing, offering, or promising, directly or indirectly, anything of value to any foreign government official or employee, or any political party or official thereof, or candidate for political office to improperly influence, induce, obtain and retain business from, expedite or secure the performance of official acts of a routine nature, secure an improper advantage, or otherwise violate any of the Anti-Bribery laws, from such or any person. As we increase our international sales and business and sales to the public sector, we may engage with partners and third-party intermediaries to market our services and to obtain necessary permits, licenses, and other regulatory approvals. In addition, we or our third-party intermediaries may have direct or indirect interactions with officials and employees of government agencies or state-owned or affiliated entities. Due to the expansive nature of the FCPA and other anti-corruption and anti-bribery laws, we can be held liable for corrupt or other illegal actions, even if seemingly innocent, of these third-party intermediaries, our employees, representatives, contractors, partners and agents, even if we do not explicitly authorize such activities. While we have policies and procedures to address compliance with such laws, our employees and agents could violate our policies and applicable law, for which we may be ultimately held responsible. As we increase our international sales and business, our risks under these laws may increase. Additionally, the FCPA requires that we keep accurate books and records and maintain a system of adequate internal controls. Although we have taken precautions to prevent violations of these laws, we cannot provide assurance that our internal controls and compliance systems will always prevent misconduct by our employees, agents, third parties, or business partners. Noncompliance with anti-corruption, anti-bribery or anti-money laundering laws could subject us to whistleblower complaints, investigations, sanctions, settlements, criminal prosecution, other enforcement actions, disgorgement of profits, significant fines, damages, including treble damages, other civil and criminal penalties or injunctions, suspension and/or debarment from contracting with certain persons, the loss of export privileges, reputational harm, adverse media coverage, and other collateral consequences. If any subpoenas or investigations are launched, or governmental or other sanctions imposed, or if we do not prevail in any possible civil or criminal litigation, our business, results of operations, and financial condition could be materially harmed. Responding to any action will likely result in a materially significant diversion of management’s attention and resources and significant defense costs and other professional fees. Enforcement actions and sanctions could further harm our business, results of operations, and financial condition. ***We are exposed to fluctuations in currency exchange rates, which could negatively affect our operating results.*** Our customer subscription and partner and services contracts are primarily denominated in U.S. dollars (“USD”), and therefore substantially all of our revenue is not subject to foreign currency risk. However, a strengthening of the USD could increase the real cost of our platform and products to our customers outside of the U.S., which could adversely affect our operating results. In addition, an increasing portion of our operating expenses is incurred and an increasing portion of our assets is held outside the U.S. These operating expenses and assets are denominated in foreign currencies and are subject to fluctuations due to changes in foreign currency exchange rates. If we are not able to successfully hedge against the risks associated with currency fluctuations, our operating results could be adversely affected. ***Our insurance costs may increase significantly, we may be unable to obtain the same level of insurance coverage and our insurance coverage may not be adequate to cover all possible losses we may suffer.*** We generally renew our insurance policies annually. If the cost of coverage becomes too high or if we believe certain coverage becomes inapplicable, we may need to reduce our policy limits, increase retention amounts or agree to certain exclusions from our coverage to reduce the premiums to an acceptable amount or to otherwise reduce coverage for certain occurrences. On the other hand, we may determine that we either do not have certain coverage that would be prudent for our business and the risks associated with our business or that our current coverages are too low to adequately cover such risks. In either event, we may incur additional or higher premiums for such coverage than in prior years. Among other factors, national security concerns, catastrophic events, pandemics or any changes in any applicable statutory requirement binding insurance carriers to offer certain types of coverage could also adversely affect available insurance coverage and result in, among other things, increased premiums on available coverage (which may cause us to elect to reduce our policy limits or not renew our coverage) and additional exclusions from coverage. As cyber incidents and threats continue to evolve, we may be required to expend additional, perhaps significant, resources to continue to update, modify or enhance our protective measures or to investigate and remediate any vulnerability to cyber incidents. Although we maintain and monitor our information technology systems and we have insurance coverage for protecting against cyber security risks, such systems and insurance coverage may not be sufficient to protect against or cover all the losses we may experience as a result of any cyber-attacks. We may suffer damage due to a casualty loss (such as fire, natural disasters, pandemics and acts of war or terrorism) or other losses, such as those related to labor, professional liability or certain actions or inactions by our management, directors, employees or others, that could severely disrupt its business or subject us to claims by third parties who are injured or harmed. Although we maintain insurance that we believe to be adequate, such insurance may be inadequate or unavailable to cover all the risks to which our business and assets may be exposed, including risks related to certain litigation. Should an uninsured loss (including a loss that is less than the applicable deductible or that is not covered by insurance) or loss in excess of insured limits occur, it could have a significant adverse impact on our business, results of operations or financial condition. ***Our ability to use our net operating losses and certain other attributes may be subject to certain limitations.*** As of December 31, 2024, we had approximately $215.5 million and $149.9 million of federal and state net operating loss carryforwards, respectively. Certain of our U.S. federal and state net operating loss carryforwards may be carried forward indefinitely, while other of these loss carryforwards are subject to expiration (beginning in 2030). As of December 31, 2024, we had approximately $5.7 million and $4.3 million available to offset future U.S. federal and state income taxes payable, respectively. Certain of our U.S. federal tax credit carryforwards may be carried forward indefinitely, while other of these tax credit carryforwards are subject to expiration (beginning in 2035). As of December 31, 2024, we had approximately $1.1 million of foreign tax credits available to offset future India income taxes payable. It is possible that we will not generate taxable income in time to use these net operating loss carryforwards before their expiration (or that we will not generate taxable income at all). Under legislative changes made in December 2017, as modified by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the “CARES Act”) in March 2020, U.S. federal net operating loss carryforwards generated in taxable periods beginning after December 31, 2017, may be carried forward indefinitely, but the deductibility of such net operating loss carryforwards in taxable years beginning after December 31, 2020, is limited to 80% of taxable income. It is uncertain if and to what extent various states will conform to these federal tax laws. In addition, the federal and state net operating loss carryforwards and certain tax credits may be subject to significant limitations under Section 382 and Section 383 of the Code, respectively, and similar provisions of state law, including limitations that may result from the consummation of the Business Combination. Under those sections of the Internal Revenue Code, if a corporation undergoes an “ownership change,” the corporation’s ability to use its pre-change net operating loss carryforwards and other pre-change attributes, such as research tax credits, to offset its post-change income or tax may be limited. In general, an “ownership change” will occur if there is a cumulative change in our ownership by “5-percent shareholders” that exceeds 50 percentage points over a rolling three-year period. Similar rules may apply under state tax laws. We have not yet determined whether the Business Combination will give rise to an “ownership change” for purposes of Section 382 and Section 383 of the Code. Furthermore, we may have experienced ownership changes in the past and may experience ownership changes in the future as a result of subsequent shifts in our stock ownership (some of which shifts are outside our control). As a result, our ability to use our pre-change federal NOLs and other tax attributes to offset future taxable income and taxes could be subject to limitations. For these reasons, we may be unable to use a material portion of our NOLs and other tax attributes, which could adversely affect our future net income and cash flows. ***Changes to applicable tax laws and regulations or exposure to additional income tax liabilities could affect our business and future profitability.*** Blaize is a U.S. corporation and thus will be subject to U.S. corporate income tax on its worldwide income. Further, since our operations and customers are located throughout the U.S., we will be subject to various U.S. state and local taxes. U.S. federal, state, local and non-U.S. tax laws, policies, statutes, rules, regulations or ordinances could be interpreted, changed, modified or applied adversely to us and may have an adverse effect on our business and future profitability. For example, several tax proposals have been set forth that would, if enacted, make significant changes to U.S. tax laws. Such proposals include an increase in the U.S. income tax rate applicable to corporations (such as Blaize). Congress may consider, and could include, some or all of these proposals in connection with tax reform that may be undertaken (including with retroactive effect). We are unable to predict whether these or similar changes will be enacted and, if enacted, how soon any such changes could take effect. The passage of any legislation as a result of these proposals and other similar changes in U.S. federal income tax laws could adversely affect our business and future profitability. ***We may be subject to additional obligations to collect and remit sales tax and other taxes. We may be subject to tax liability for past sales, which could harm our business.*** State, local and foreign jurisdictions have differing rules and regulations governing sales, use, value added, and other taxes, and these rules and regulations are subject to varying interpretations that may change over time. In particular, the applicability of such taxes to our ecommerce platform in various jurisdictions is unclear. These jurisdictions’ rules regarding tax nexus are complex and vary significantly. As a result, jurisdictions in which we have not historically collected or accrued sales, use, value added, or other taxes could assert our liability for such taxes. Our liability for these taxes and associated penalties could exceed our original estimates. This could result in substantial tax liabilities and related penalties for past sales. It could also discourage customers from using our software solutions platform or otherwise harm our business and operating results. ### Risks Related to Being a Public Company ***The market price of our common stock is and could remain highly volatile, and has declined and may continue to decline regardless of our operating performance. You may lose some or all of your investment.*** The trading price of our common stock is and could remain volatile and subject to significant fluctuations. The trading price of our common stock depends on many factors, including those described in this “*Risk Factors”* section, many of which are beyond our control and may not be related to our operating performance. We do not intend to pay cash dividends on our common stock for the foreseeable future. Furthermore, the stock markets in general have experienced extreme volatility, which has sometimes been unrelated to the operating performance of the issuer. The trading price of our common stock may be adversely affected by third parties trying to drive down or drive up the market price. Short sellers and others, some of whom post anonymously on social media, may be positioned to profit if our stock declines or otherwise exhibits volatility, and their activities can negatively affect our stock price and increase the volatility of our stock price. These broad market and industry factors may seriously harm the market price of our common stock, regardless of our operating performance. In addition, in the past, following periods of volatility in the overall market and the market prices of particular companies’ securities, securities class action litigations have often been instituted against these companies. Litigation of this type, if instituted against us, could result in substantial costs and a diversion of our management’s attention and resources. Any adverse determination in any such litigation or any amounts paid to settle any such actual or threatened litigation could require that we make significant payments. ***If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or reports about our business or publish negative reports, the market price of our common stock could decline.*** The trading market for our common stock will be influenced by the research and reports that industry or securities analysts publish about us or our business. We may be unable or slow to attract research coverage and if one or more analysts cease coverage of us, the price and trading volume of our securities would likely be negatively impacted. If any of the analysts that may cover us change their recommendation regarding our securities adversely, or provide more favorable relative recommendations about our competitors, the price of our securities would likely decline. If any analyst that may cover us ceases covering us or fails to regularly publish reports on us, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which could cause the price or trading volume of our securities to decline. Moreover, if one or more of the analysts who cover us downgrades our common stock or if our reporting results do not meet their expectations, the market price of our common stock could decline. ***Our ability to timely raise capital in the future may be limited, or may be unavailable on acceptable terms, if at all. Our failure to raise capital when needed could harm our business, operating results and financial condition. Debt issued to raise additional capital may reduce the value of our common stock.*** We have funded our operations since inception primarily through the continued financial support from our shareholders and other related parties. We cannot be certain when or if our operations will generate sufficient cash to fund our ongoing operations or the growth of our business. We intend to continue to make investments to support our business and may require additional funds. Additional financing may not be available on favorable terms, if at all. If adequate funds are not available on acceptable terms, we may be unable to invest in future growth opportunities, which could harm our business, operating results and financial condition. If we incur debt, the terms of such debt, including the accrual of interest at fixed or variable interest rates, could restrict our operations, including our ability to pay dividends on our common stock. Moreover, as a result of widespread inflation in the global economy, certain governmental authorities responsible for administering monetary policy have recently increased, and may continue to increase, applicable central bank interest rates, which could increase the costs required to obtain debt financing in the future or refinance any such future indebtedness Furthermore, if we incur debt, the debt holders could have rights senior to holders of common stock to make claims on our assets. As a result, our stockholders bear the risk of future issuances of debt securities reducing the value of our common stock. ***The requirements of being a public company, including compliance with the reporting requirements of the Exchange Act, the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the requirements of the Nasdaq, may strain our resources, increase our costs and require additional attention of management, and we may be unable to comply with these requirements in a timely or cost-effective manner.*** As a public company, we are subject to laws, regulations and requirements, certain corporate governance provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, related regulations of the SEC and the requirements of the Nasdaq, which we were not required to comply with as a private company. As a newly public company as a result of the Business Combination, complying with these statutes, regulations and requirements will occupy a significant amount of time of our board of directors and management and significantly increases our costs and expenses. For example, we have to institute a more comprehensive compliance function, comply with rules promulgated by the Nasdaq, prepare and distribute periodic public reports in compliance with our obligations under the federal securities laws, and establish new internal policies, such as those relating to insider trading. We also have to retain and rely on outside counsel and accountants to a greater degree in these activities. In addition, being subject to these rules and regulations make it more expensive for us to obtain director and officer liability insurance, and we may be required to accept reduced policy limits and coverage or incur substantially higher costs to obtain the same or similar coverage. As a result, it may be more difficult for us to attract and retain qualified individuals to serve on our board of directors or as executive officer. ***Our management has limited experience in operating a public company and may not be able to adequately develop and implement the governance, compliance, risk management and control infrastructure and culture required for a public company, including compliance with the Sarbanes Oxley Act..*** Our executive officers have limited experience in the management of a publicly traded company. Our management team may not successfully or effectively manage its transition to a public company that will be subject to significant regulatory oversight and reporting obligations under federal securities laws. Their limited experience in dealing with the increasingly complex laws pertaining to public companies could be a significant disadvantage in that it is likely that an increasing amount of their time may be devoted to these activities which will result in less time being devoted to our management and growth. We may not have adequate personnel with the appropriate level of knowledge, experience, and training in the accounting policies, practices or internal controls over financial reporting required of public companies in the U.S. The development and implementation of the standards and controls necessary for us to achieve the level of accounting standards required of a public company in the U.S. may require costs greater than expected. It is possible that we will be required to expand its employee base and hire additional employees to support its operations as a public company which will increase its operating costs in future periods. ***Some provisions of Delaware law and our certificate of incorporation and bylaws may deter third parties from acquiring us and diminish the value of our Common Stock.*** Our certificate of incorporation and bylaws provide for, among other things: - the ability of our board of directors (the “Board”) to issue one or more series of preferred stock with voting or other rights or preferences that could have the effect of impeding the success of an attempt to acquire us or otherwise effect a change in control; - prohibit cumulative voting in the election of directors, which limits the ability of minority stockholders to elect director candidates; - advance notice for nominations of directors by stockholders and for stockholders to include matters to be considered at stockholder meetings; and - certain limitations on convening special stockholder meetings. In addition, in our certificate of incorporation, we have not opted out of Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, which prohibits a Delaware corporation from engaging in certain “business combinations” with any “interested stockholder” for a three‑year period following the time that the stockholder became an interested stockholder, unless: - prior to such time, the board of directors approved either the business combination or the transaction that resulted in the stockholder becoming an interested stockholder; - upon consummation of the transaction that resulted in the stockholder becoming an interested stockholder, the interested stockholder owned at least 85% of voting stock outstanding at the time the transaction commenced, excluding certain shares; or - at or subsequent to that time, the business combination is approved by our Board and by the affirmative vote of holders of at least two‑thirds of the votes of our outstanding voting stock that is not owned by the interested stockholder. Generally, a “business combination” includes a merger, asset or stock sale or other transaction resulting in a financial benefit to the interested stockholder. Subject to certain exceptions, an “interested stockholder” is a person who, together with that person’s affiliates and associates, owns, or within the previous three years owned, 15% or more of the votes of our outstanding voting stock. For purposes of this provision, “voting stock” means any class or series of stock entitled to vote generally in the election of directors. Under certain circumstances, this provision will make it more difficult for a person who would be an “interested stockholder” to effect various business combinations with us for a three‑year period. This provision may encourage companies interested in acquiring us to negotiate in advance with our board of directors because the stockholder approval requirement would be avoided if our Board approves either the business combination or the transaction that results in the stockholder becoming an interested stockholder. These provisions also may have the effect of preventing changes in our Board and may make it more difficult to accomplish transactions that stockholders may otherwise deem to be in their best interests. These provisions in our certificate of incorporation and our bylaws, as well as Delaware law, may discourage, delay or prevent a transaction involving a change in control of us that is in the best interest of its minority stockholders. Even in the absence of a takeover attempt, the existence of these provisions may adversely affect the prevailing market price of our Common Stock if they are viewed as discouraging future takeover attempts. These provisions could also make it more difficult for stockholders to nominate directors for election to our board of directors and take other corporate actions. ***We are an emerging growth company within the meaning of the Securities Act and a smaller reporting company within the meaning of the Exchange Act, and if we take advantage of certain exemptions from disclosure requirements available to “emerging growth companies” or “smaller reporting companies,” this could make our securities less attractive to investors and may make it more difficult to compare our performance with other public companies.*** We are an emerging growth company within the meaning of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act, and we take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, but are not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes‑Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from say‑on‑pay, say‑on‑frequency and say‑on‑golden parachute voting requirements. As a result, our stockholders may not have access to certain information they may deem important. We will remain an emerging growth company until the earliest of (i) the last day of the fiscal year: (a) following January 13, 2030, the fifth anniversary of the Closing; (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1,235,000,000; or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of the shares of our Common Stock that are held by non‑affiliates exceeds $700,000,000 as of the last business day of our prior second fiscal quarter, and (ii) the date on which we have issued more than $1,000,000,000 in non‑convertible debt securities during the prior three‑year period. Further, Section 102(b)(1) of the JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies from being required to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards until private companies (that is, those that have not had a Securities Act registration statement declared effective or do not have a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act) are required to comply with the new or revised financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that a company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply to non‑emerging growth companies but any such election to opt out is irrevocable. We intend to take advantage of the benefits of this extended transition period. We cannot predict whether investors will find our securities less attractive because we rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result of our reliance on these exemptions, the trading prices of our securities may be lower than they otherwise would be, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the trading prices of our securities may be more volatile. ***Our failure to timely and effectively implement controls and procedures required by Section 404(a) of the Sarbanes‑Oxley Act could negatively impact our business.*** As a public company, we are subject to Section 404 of the Sarbanes‑Oxley Act and are required to provide management’s attestation on internal controls. The standards required for a public company under Section 404(a) of the Sarbanes‑Oxley Act are significantly more stringent than those required of us as a privately held company. Management may not be able to effectively and timely implement controls and procedures that adequately respond to the increased regulatory compliance and reporting requirements. If our management is unable to conclude that we have effective internal control over financial reporting, or to certify the effectiveness of such controls, and our independent registered public accounting firm cannot render an unqualified opinion on management’s assessment and the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting at such time as it is required to do so, and material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting are identified, we could be subject to regulatory scrutiny, a loss of public and investor confidence, prevent us from obtaining capital on favorable terms or at all, and to litigation from investors and stockholders, which could have a material adverse effect on our business and our stock price. In addition, if we do not maintain adequate financial and management personnel, processes, and controls, we may not be able to manage our business effectively or accurately report our financial performance on a timely basis, which could cause a decline in our stock price and adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations. Failure to comply with the Sarbanes‑Oxley Act could potentially subject us to sanctions or investigations by the SEC, Nasdaq or other regulatory authorities, which would require additional financial and management resources. ## Cybersecurity As filed, 4,148 characters. ### Risk Management and Strategy We have in place certain infrastructure, systems, policies, and procedures that are designed to proactively and reactively address circumstances that arise when unexpected events such as a cybersecurity incident occur. These include processes for assessing, identifying, and managing material risks from cybersecurity threats. Our information security management program generally follows processes outlined in frameworks such as the International Organization for Standardization's (“ISO”) international standard for Information Security (“ISO 27001”) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology's Cybersecurity Framework 2.0 (“NCSF”) and we evaluate and evolve our security measures as appropriate. As of December 31, 2024, we have not completed all of the requirements to be ISO 27001 or NCSF certified. We consult with external parties, such as cybersecurity firms and risk management and governance experts, on risk management and strategy. Identifying, assessing, and managing cybersecurity risk is integrated into our overall risk management systems and processes, and we have in place cybersecurity and data privacy training and policies designed to (a) respond to new requirements in global privacy laws and (b) prevent, detect, respond to, mitigate and recover from identified and significant cybersecurity threats. We also have a vendor risk assessment process consisting of the distribution and review of supplier questionnaires designed to help us evaluate cybersecurity risks that we may encounter when working with third parties that have access to confidential and other sensitive company information. We take steps designed to ensure that such vendors have implemented data privacy and security controls that help mitigate the cybersecurity risks associated with these vendors. We routinely assess our high-risk suppliers’ conformance to industry standards (e.g., ISO 27001, ISO's international standard for Supply Chain Security Management (“ISO 28001”), the NCSF, and the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism), and evaluate them for additional information, product, and physical security requirements. Refer to “Item 1A. Risk Factors” in this Annual Report for additional information about risks related to cybersecurity. ### Governance Information security matters, including managing and assessing risks from cybersecurity threats, remain under the oversight of the Company’s Board of Directors, or the Board. The Audit Committee of the Board, or the Audit Committee, also reviews the adequacy and effectiveness of the Company’s information security policies and practices and the internal controls regarding information security risks. The Audit Committee receives regular information security updates from management. The Board also receives annual reports on information security matters from members of our security team. Our security efforts are managed by a team of IT, engineering, operations, and legal professionals. We have established a cross-functional leadership team, consisting of executive-level leaders, that meets regularly to review cybersecurity matters and evaluate emerging threats. With oversight and guidance provided by the cross-functional leadership team, our information security teams refine our practices to address emerging security risks and changes in regulations. Our leadership team also participates in cybersecurity incident response efforts by engaging with the incident response team and helping direct the company’s response to and assessment of certain cybersecurity incidents. We have designated a Network and Security Engineer, who reports to the Director of IT & Security, to assess and manage our material cybersecurity risks and threats. In this role, the Network and Security Engineer installs and manages our corporate firewalls, Enterprise Infrastructure engineering, and network analysis, but also supports our incident response and vulnerability management efforts. With over 10 years of experience in cybersecurity, the Engineer ensures our controls remain effective and that any emerging threats are promptly addressed. ## Properties As filed, 1,356 characters. Our corporate headquarters are located in El Dorado Hills, California where we lease approximately 1,753 square feet of office space pursuant to a lease that expires on June 15, 2025. Our El Dorado Hills premises contains administrative functions of the company. We also lease approximately 4,192 square feet of office space pursuant to a lease that expires on September 1, 2026. Our San Jose premises contains engineering and research and development functions of the company. We lease approximately 35,000 square feet of office space in Hyderabad, India pursuant to leases that expire on September 30, 2028. Our India premises contains engineering, research and development, and administrative functions of the company. We lease approximately 1,000 square feet of office space in the United Kingdom pursuant to a lease that expires on August 9, 2029. Our U.K. premises contains engineering, research and development, and administrative functions of Blaize. We also lease approximately 1,500 square feet of office space in the United Kingdom pursuant to a lease that expires on July 15, 2025, which contains engineering and R&D functions for Blaize. We believe that our office and other space is adequate for our current needs and, should we need additional space, we believe we will be able to obtain additional space on commercially reasonable terms. ## Legal proceedings As filed, 1,720 characters. From time to time, we may become involved in litigation or other legal proceedings. Except as listed below, we are not currently a party to any litigation or legal proceedings that, in the opinion of our management, may have a material adverse effect on our business. Regardless of outcome, litigation can have an adverse impact on us because of defense and settlement costs, diversion of management resources and other factors. #### Jefferies LLC v. Blaize Holdings, Inc. (formerly known as BurTech Acquisition Corp.) On September 9, 2024, BurTech entered into an Advisory Services Engagement Letter with Jefferies to serve as its exclusive capital markets advisor in connection with the contemplated transaction involving Legacy Blaize (i.e. the Business Combination) (the “Jefferies Engagement Letter”). On April 7, 2025, Jefferies commenced a lawsuit against the Company in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of New York, seeking summary judgment in lieu of complaint. The lawsuit alleges that pursuant to the Jefferies Engagement Letter, Jefferies was entitled to receive a fee of $4,500,000 conditional on the Closing of the Business Combination, with the option for the Company to defer up to $1,000,000 of this fee for up to 12 months post-closing, and $500,000 in reimbursable expenses. Jefferies alleges that as of March 31, 2025, no fees have been paid to Jefferies under the Jefferies Engagement Letter. Jefferies seeks $3,500,000 for its fees, as well as $500,000 in expense reimbursement, as well as pre-and post-judgment interest and attorneys’ fees and legal costs incurred in connection with the lawsuit. The Company has retained counsel and intends to vigorously defend the litigation. ## Management's discussion and analysis As filed, 30,784 characters. *Unless otherwise indicated, references to “we”, “us”, “our”, “BurTech” or the “Company” in this Item 7. are to BurTech Acquisition Corp. before the consummation of the Business Combination, references to “Blaize” are to Blaize Holdings, Inc. after the consummation of the Business Combination and references to "Legacy Blaize" are to Blaize, Inc. before the consummation of the Business Combination. The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with our audited consolidated financial statements and related notes thereto included in Item 8. of this Annual Report. The financial information included in this Item 7. is that of BurTech prior to the Business Combination, as the Business Combination was consummated subsequent to the period covered by the audited consolidated financial statements in Item 8. of this Annual Report.* ### Overview We were a blank check company incorporated in Delaware on March 2, 2021, for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses. We are an emerging growth company and, as such, we are subject to all of the risks associated with emerging growth companies. ### Recent Events In connection with the stockholders’ vote at the Special Meeting of stockholders held by the Company on March 10, 2023, 22,119,297 shares were tendered for redemption. As a result, approximately $227.8 million (approximately $10.30 per share redeemed) was removed from the Company’s trust account to pay holders. Following redemptions, the Company has 6,630,703 shares of Class A common stock outstanding, and approximately $68.0 million remained in the Company’s trust account. In connection with the stockholders’ vote at the Second Special Meeting of stockholders held by the Company on December 11, 2023, The Company’s stockholders redeemed 2,285,040 shares during the Second Special Meeting. As a result, approximately $24.5 million (approximately $10.74 per share) was removed from the Company’s trust account to pay such holders. The amount was removed from the Trust Account on January 5, 2024. In conjunction with the above redemptions, the stockholders’ also voted on extending the original liquidation from March 15, 2023 to December 15, 2023, (the “extended liquidation date”) extending the life of the Company to complete an initial business combination. We will have only 23 months from the closing of the IPO (the “Combination Period”) to complete the initial Business Combination. On December 11, 2023 (the “Second Special Meeting”), the Company entered into an amendment to the investment management trust agreement dated as of December 10, 2021, with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company (the “Second Trust Amendment”). Pursuant to the Second Trust Amendment, the Company had the right to extend the time to complete a business combination twelve (12) times, each such extension for an additional one (1) month period (each an “Extension”), until December 15, 2024, by depositing into the Trust Account the lesser of $0.03 per unredeemed share of Class A common stock or $150,000 (the “Extension Payment”) for each one-month Extension. On January 16, 2024, February 9, 2024, and March 12, 2024, the Sponsor deposited $130,370 on each date into the Trust Account to extend the life of the Company from January 15, 2024 to April 15, 2024. On April 10, 2024, May 10, 2024 and June 12, 2024 the Sponsor deposited $130,370 on each date into the Trust Account to extend the life of the Company from April 15, 2024 to July 15, 2024. On July 12, 2024, August 14, 2024, September 21, 2024,October 15, 2024 and November 13, 2024 the Sponsor deposited $130,370 on each date into the Trust Account to extend the life of the Company from April 15, 2024 to December 15, 2024. In connection with the stockholders’ vote at the Third Special Meeting of stockholders held by the Company on December 9, 2024, the Company’s stockholders redeemed 241,120 shares during the Third Special Meeting. As a result, approximately $2.7 million (approximately $11.51 per share) was removed from the Company’s trust account to pay such holders. The amount was removed from the Trust Account on December 12, 2024. In conjunction with these redemptions, the stockholders also voted on extending the extended liquidation from December 15, 2024 to May 15, 2025, (the “extended liquidation date”) extending the life of the Company to complete an initial business combination. The Company had the right to extend the time to complete a business combination until May 15, 2025, by depositing into the Trust Account the lesser of $0.05 per unredeemed share of Class A common stock or $205,227 (the “New Extension Payment”) for each one-month Extension. On December 15, 2024 the Sponsor deposited $205,227 into the Trust Account to extend the life of the Company to January 15, 2025. ### Business Combination As previously announced, on December 22, 2023, the Company entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger (the “Merger Agreement”) by and among the Company, Merger Sub a Delaware corporation and a direct, wholly owned subsidiary of the Company, Legacy Blaize, and, solely for the limited purposes set forth therein, Burkhan Capital LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“Burkhan”), pursuant to which Merger Sub merged with and into Legacy Blaize, whereupon the separate corporate existence of Merger Sub ceased and Legacy Blaize survived such merger and continued in existence as a direct, wholly owned subsidiary of the Company, on the terms and subject to the conditions set forth therein (the “Merger” and, collectively with the other transactions described in the Merger Agreement, the “Business Combination”). In connection with the consummation of the Business Combination, BurTech was renamed “Blaize Holdings, Inc.” #### Special Meeting and Closing of the Transactions On December 23, 2024, we held a special meeting of stockholders (the “Special Meeting”), at which the BurTech stockholders considered and adopted, among other matters, a proposal to approve the Business Combination, including (a) adopting the Merger Agreement and (b) approving the other transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement. Pursuant to the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in the Merger Agreement, following the Special Meeting, on January 13, 2025 (the “Closing Date”), the Business Combination was consummated (the “Closing”). ### Registration Rights Agreement On the Closing Date, in connection with the consummation of the Business Combination and as contemplated by the Merger Agreement, we and certain stockholders of Legacy Blaize, the Sponsor and BurTech entered into a registration rights agreement (the “Registration Rights Agreement”), pursuant to which we agreed to file a shelf registration statement with respect to the registrable securities under the Registration Rights Agreement within thirty (30) calendar days of the closing of the Business Combination. Certain Legacy Blaize stockholders and BurTech stockholders may each request to sell all or any portion of their registrable securities in an underwritten offering up to two times total and up to twice in any 12-month period, so long as the total offering price is reasonably expected to exceed $50.0 million. We also agreed to provide customary “piggyback” registration rights. The Registration Rights Agreement also provides that we will pay certain expenses relating to such registrations and indemnify the stockholders against certain liabilities. On the Closing Date, in connection with the consummation of the Business Combination and as contemplated by the Merger Agreement, we and certain stockholders of Legacy Blaize, entered into a registration rights agreement (the “Ava Registration Rights Agreement”), pursuant to which we agreed to file a shelf registration statement with respect to the registrable securities under the Registration Rights Agreement within four (4) business days of the closing of the Business Combination. Certain Legacy Blaize stockholders may each request to sell all or any portion of their registrable securities in an underwritten offering up to two times total and up to twice in any 12-month period, so long as the total offering price is reasonably expected to exceed $25.0 million. We also agreed to provide customary “piggyback” registration rights. The Ava Registration Rights Agreement also provides that we will pay certain expenses relating to such registrations and indemnify the stockholders against certain liabilities. The foregoing description of each of the Registration Rights Agreement and Ava Registration Rights Agreement does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the full text of the Registration Rights Agreement and Ava Registration Rights Agreement filed as exhibits to Blaize’s Current Report on Form 8-K, filed with the SEC on January 17, 2025. ### Lock-up Agreement On the Closing Date, in connection with the consummation of the Business Combination and as contemplated by the Merger Agreement, we entered into lock-up agreements (the “Lock-up Agreements”) with (i) certain of Blaize’s directors and officers, (ii) certain stockholders of Blaize and (iii) Burkhan, in each case, restricting the transfer of Blaize common stock and any shares of Blaize common stock issuable upon the exercise or settlement, as applicable, of Blaize Options or Blaize RSUs (each as defined in the Merger Agreement) held by it immediately after the Merger. The restrictions under the Lock-up Agreements began at Closing and end on the earlier of (x) the date that is 180 days after the Closing Date, (y) the last reported sale price of Blaize common stock reaching $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after the Closing and (z) the liquidation of Blaize. ### Amendment to Underwriting Agreement On April 26, 2024, the Company and EF Hutton amended the Underwriting Agreement signed on December 10, 2021. In lieu of the Company paying the full Deferred Underwriting Commission, EF Hutton agreed to accept a $1,500,000 cash payment at the Closing of a Business Combination, which was paid in full to EF Hutton on the Closing Date and the Company’s obligation to deliver the Deferred Underwriting Commission has been fulfilled. ### Backstop Subscription Agreement On April 22, 2024, the Sponsor entered into a backstop subscription agreement (the “Backstop Subscription Agreement”) with the Company and Legacy Blaize. Pursuant to the Backstop Subscription Agreement, in the event that the amount of cash in the Company’s trust account following redemptions and before payment of expenses (the “Trust Amount”) is less than $30,000,000 (the “Backstop Amount”), the Sponsor shall purchase, prior to or substantially concurrently with the closing of the Business Combination, a number of shares of Class A common stock of the Company equal to the quotient of (a) the difference of (x) $30,000,000 minus (y) the Trust Amount divided by (b) $10.00, at a per share purchase price of $10.00 per share. The Company accounts for its Backstop Subscription Agreement in accordance with the guidance contained in ASC 815-40, “Derivatives and Hedging”, under which the Backstop Subscription Agreement does not meet the criteria for equity treatment and must be recorded as a liability. Accordingly, the Company classified the Backstop Subscription Agreement as a liability at its fair value and adjusts the Backstop Subscription Agreement to fair value at each reporting period. This liability is subject to re-measurement at each balance sheet date until exercised, and any change in fair value is recognized in the statements of operations (see Note 9 to the consolidated financial statements in Item 8. of this Annual Report). The Backstop Subscription Agreement was waived at the time of the execution of the Non-Redemption Agreement (as defined below). ### Non-Redemption Agreement On or around December 31, 2024, the Company entered into agreements (each, a “Non-Redemption Agreement” and collectively, the “Non-Redemption Agreements”) with one or more unaffiliated stockholders of the Company (each, an “Investor”) who agreed not to redeem (or validly rescind any redemption requests on) their shares of Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share of the Company (“Non-Redeemed Shares”), in connection with the Special Meeting. In exchange for the foregoing commitments not to redeem the Non-Redeemed Shares, Legacy Blaize and the Sponsor, have agreed to guarantee that each Investor receives a return of $1.50 per Non-Redeemed Share whether Investor (i) sells the Non-Redeemed Shares in the open market or (ii) exercises its option to require the Company to repurchase the Non-Redeemed Shares in accordance with the Non-Redemption Agreement. Entering into the Non-Redemption Agreement is expected to increase the amount of funds that remain in the Company’s trust account following the Business Combination. The Company accounts for its Non-Redemption Agreement in accordance with the guidance contained in ASC 815-40, “Derivatives and Hedging”, under which the Non-Redemption Agreement does not meet the criteria for equity treatment and must be recorded as a liability. Accordingly, the Company classified the Backstop Subscription Agreement as a liability at its fair value and adjusts the Non-Redemption Agreement to fair value at each reporting period. This liability is subject to re-measurement at each balance sheet date until exercised, and any change in fair value is recognized in the statements of operations (see Note 9 to the consolidated financial statements in Item 8. of this Annual Report). ### PIPE Subscription Agreements In connection with the Business Combination, between December 31, 2024 and January 13, 2025 the Company and Legacy Blaize entered into subscription agreements (the “PIPE Subscription Agreements”) with certain unaffiliated third-party investors and Burkhan Capital LLC (each, a “PIPE Investor” and collectively, the “PIPE Investors”), pursuant to which, among other things, the Company agreed to issue and sell to the PIPE Investors, and the PIPE Investors agreed to subscribe for and purchase 1,540,300 shares of the Company’s common stock, par value $0.0001 per share (“PIPE Shares”) at a purchase price of $10.00 per share for an aggregate purchase price of $15,403,000, in a private placement. The transactions contemplated by the PIPE Subscription Agreement (the “PIPE Investment”) are expected to consummate substantially concurrently with the Closing. On January 13, 2025, immediately following the Closing, the Company issued 1,540,300 shares of Common Stock, at a price of $10.00 per share for an aggregate PIPE Investment of $15,403,000 in accordance with the terms of the PIPE Subscription Agreements. The shares of Common Stock issued in the PIPE Investments were offered in a private placement under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), pursuant to the PIPE Subscription Agreements Under the terms of the PIPE Subscription Agreements, the Company was obligated to file a registration statement to register for the resale of all the PIPE Shares within forty-five (45) calendar days of the Closing, and to use its commercially reasonable efforts to cause such registration statement to become effective as soon as practicable after the filing there of. On January 17, 2025, we filed a Registration Statement on Form S-1 to register the resale of such PIPE Shares. ### Results of Operations We have neither engaged in any operations nor generated any revenues through the date of our Business Combination. Our only activities through December 31, 2024 were organizational activities, those necessary to prepare for the Initial Public Offering, described below, and identifying a target company for a Business Combination. We do not expect to generate any operating revenues until after the completion of our Business Combination. We generate non-operating income in the form of interest dividends on marketable securities held in the Trust Account. We incur expenses as a result of being a public company (for legal, financial reporting, accounting and auditing compliance), as well as for due diligence and transaction expenses. For the year ended December 31, 2024, we had a net loss of $4,113,532, which consisted of change in fair value of derivative liability – Non-Redemption Agreement of $1,084,963, operating costs, penalties and interest related to excise taxes, and franchise taxes of $4,976,528, and provision for income taxes of $517,179, partially offset by interest from investments held in our Trust Account of $2,465,138. For the year ended December 31, 2023, we had a net income of $1,339,142, which consisted of interest from investments held in our Trust Account of $5,751,596, offset by $3,384,810 in operating costs and franchise taxes and provision for income taxes of $1,027,644. ### Liquidity and Going Concern As of December 31, 2024, the Company had $1,506 in cash, $757,336 in restricted cash and $47,558,112 in investments held in trust. Restricted cash is held exclusively for payment of current tax liabilities. As of December 31, 2024, $4,214,138 of the amount on deposit in the Trust Account represents interest income. Our liquidity needs up to December 31, 2024 had been satisfied through a payment from the Sponsor of $25,000 for the Founder Shares to cover certain offering costs, the loan under an unsecured promissory note from the Sponsor of $1,500,000, working capital advances from the Sponsor and the net proceeds from the consummation of the Initial Public Offering held outside of the trust account. As of December 31, 2024, the Company had $1,500,000 outstanding under a Convertible Promissory Note and $2,971,258 outstanding as advances from the Sponsor. Until the consummation of a Business Combination, the Company will use the funds not held in the Trust Account for identifying and evaluating prospective acquisition candidates, performing due diligence on prospective target businesses, paying for travel expenditures, selecting the target business to acquire, and structuring, negotiating and consummating the Business Combination. The Company completed its Business Combination on January 13, 2025. On September 9, 2024, BurTech entered into an Advisory Services Engagement Letter with Jefferies to serve as its exclusive capital markets advisor in connection with the contemplated transaction involving Legacy Blaize (i.e., the Business Combination) (the “Jefferies Engagement Letter”), pursuant to which Jefferies would be eligible for a fee of $4,500,000 contingent upon the closing of a Business Combination and for reimbursement of expenses up to $500,000. On April 7, 2025, Jefferies commenced a lawsuit against the Company in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of New York, seeking summary judgment in lieu of complaint. The lawsuit alleges that pursuant to the Jefferies Engagement Letter, Jefferies was entitled to receive a fee of $4,500,000 conditional on the Closing of the Business Combination, with the option for the Company to defer up to $1,000,000 of this fee for up to 12 months post-closing, and $500,000 in reimbursable expenses. Jefferies alleges that as of March 31, 2025, no fees have been paid to Jefferies under the Jefferies Engagement Letter. Jefferies seeks $3,500,000 for its fees, as well as $500,000 in expense reimbursement, as well as pre-and post-judgment interest and attorneys’ fees and legal costs incurred in connection with the lawsuit. Such contingent obligation could require the use of cash or impact the collection of cash in future periods; however, we are unable to accurately predict the timing and estimate the amount of such contingent obligation as of December 31, 2024. In connection with the Company’s assessment of going concern considerations in accordance with Accounting Standards Codification Subtopic 205-40, “Presentation of Consolidated Financial Statements – Going Concern,” Management has determined that the liquidity condition raises substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern for at least one year from the date the consolidated financial statements contained in Annual Report are issued. These conditions raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. These consolidated financial statements do not include any adjustments relating to the recovery of the recorded assets or the classification of the liabilities that might be necessary should the Company be unable to continue as a going concern. ### Off-Balance Sheet Financing Arrangements We have no obligations, assets or liabilities, which would be considered off-balance sheet arrangements as of December 31, 2024. We do not participate in transactions that create relationships with unconsolidated entities or financial partnerships, often referred to as variable interest entities, which would have been established for the purpose of facilitating off-balance sheet arrangements. We have not entered into any off-balance sheet financing arrangements, established any special purpose entities, guaranteed any debt or commitments of other entities, or purchased any non-financial assets. ### Contractual Obligations We do not have any long-term debt, capital lease obligations, operating lease obligations or long-term liabilities, other than an agreement to pay an affiliate of our financial advisor a monthly fee of $10,000 for office space, utilities and administrative support. Upon completion of our Business Combination, we will cease paying these monthly fees. ### Critical Accounting Policies The preparation of the consolidated financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the consolidated financial statements and the reported amounts of expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates. We have identified the following as our critical accounting estimates: ### Common Stock Subject to Possible Redemption As of December 31, 2024, we accounted for our shares of BurTech Class A common stock subject to possible redemption in accordance with the guidance in ASC Topic 480 “Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity.” Class A Common stock subject to mandatory redemption (if any) is classified as a liability instrument and measured at fair value. Conditionally redeemable common stock (including common stock that feature redemption rights that are either within the control of the holder or subject to redemption upon the occurrence of uncertain events not solely within our control) are classified as temporary equity. At all other times, common stock is classified as stockholders’ equity. Our Class A common stock feature certain redemption rights that are considered to be outside of our control and subject to the occurrence of uncertain future events. Accordingly, as of December 31, 2024 and 2023, 4,104,543 and 4,345,663 Class A common stock subject to possible redemption, respectively, are presented at redemption value as temporary equity, outside of the stockholders’ deficit section of our balance sheets. We recognize changes in redemption value immediately as they occur and adjusts the carrying value of redeemable common stock to equal the redemption value at the end of each reporting period. Increases or decreases in the carrying amount of redeemable common stock are affected by charges against additional paid in capital and accumulated deficit. ### Warrants We do not use derivative instruments to hedge exposures to cash flow, market, or foreign currency risks. We evaluate all of our financial instruments, including issued stock purchase warrants, to determine if such instruments are derivatives or contain features that qualify as embedded derivatives, pursuant to ASC 480 and ASC 815-15. We account for the public warrants and private warrants collectively (“Warrants”), as either equity or liability-classified instruments based on an assessment of the specific terms of the Warrants and the applicable authoritative guidance in Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 815, Derivatives and Hedging (“ASC 815”). The assessment considers whether the Warrants meet all of the requirements for equity classification under ASC 815, including whether the Warrants are indexed to our own common stocks and whether the warrant holders could potentially require “net cash settlement” in a circumstance outside of our control, among other conditions for equity classification. This assessment, which requires the use of professional judgment, is conducted at the time of issuance of the Warrants and as of each subsequent quarterly period end date while the Warrants are outstanding. For issued or modified warrants that meet all of the criteria for equity classification, such warrants are required to be recorded as a component of additional paid-in capital at the time of issuance. For issued or modified warrants that do not meet all the criteria for equity classification, such warrants are required to be recorded at their initial fair value on the date of issuance, and each balance sheet date thereafter. Changes in the estimated fair value of liability-classified warrants are recognized as a non-cash gain or loss on the statements of operations. We evaluated the public warrants and private warrants in accordance with ASC 815-40, “Derivatives and Hedging — Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity,” and concluded that they met the criteria for equity classification and are required to be recorded as part a component of additional paid-in capital at the time of issuance. ### Derivative Liability - Backstop Subscription Agreement The Company accounts for its Backstop Subscription Agreement (see Note 6 to the consolidated financial statements in Item 8. of this Annual Report) in accordance with the guidance contained in ASC 815-40, “Derivatives and Hedging”, under which the Backstop Subscription Agreement does not meet the criteria for equity treatment and must be recorded as a liability. Accordingly, the Company classified the Backstop Subscription Agreement as a liability at its fair value and adjusts the Backstop Subscription Agreement to fair value at each reporting period. This liability is subject to re-measurement at each balance sheet date until exercised, and any change in fair value is recognized in the statements of operations. The Backstop Subscription Agreement is valued using a Probability Weighted Expected Return Model (“PWERM”). The Backstop Subscription Agreement was waived at the execution of the Non-Redemption Agreement. ### Derivative Liability – Non-Redemption Agreement The Company accounts for its Non-Redemption Agreement (see Note 6 to the consolidated financial statements in Item 8. of this Annual Report) in accordance with the guidance contained in ASC 815-40, “Derivatives and Hedging”, under which the Non-Redemption Agreement does not meet the criteria for equity treatment and must be recorded as a liability. Accordingly, the Company classified the Non-Redemption Agreement as a liability at its fair value and adjusts the Non-Redemption Agreement to fair value at each reporting period. This liability is subject to re-measurement at each balance sheet date until exercised, and any change in fair value is recognized in the statements of operations. The Non-Redemption Agreement is valued using a Monte Carlo model. ### Net Income Per Common Stock We have two classes of shares, which are referred to as Class A common stock and Class B common stock. Earnings and losses are shared pro rata between the two classes of shares. The 29,648,250 potential common stocks for outstanding warrants to purchase our shares were excluded from diluted (losses) earnings per share for the year ended December 31, 2024 and 2023 because the warrants are contingently exercisable, and the contingencies have not yet been met and its inclusion would be anti-dilutive. As a result, diluted net (loss) income per common stock is the same as basic net (loss) income per common stock for the periods. ### Recent Accounting Pronouncements In December 2023, the FASB issued ASU 2023-09, Income Taxes (Topic 740): Improvements to Income Tax Disclosures (ASU 2023-09), which requires disclosure of incremental income tax information within the rate reconciliation and expanded disclosures of income taxes paid, among other disclosure requirements. ASU 2023-09 is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2024. Early adoption is permitted. Our management does not believe the adoption of ASU 2023-09 will have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements. In November 2023, the FASB issued ASU 2023-07, “Segment Reporting (Topic 280): Improvements to Reportable Segment Disclosures.” The amendments in this ASU require disclosures, on an annual and interim basis, of significant segment expenses that are regularly provided to the chief operating decision maker (“CODM”), as well as the aggregate amount of other segment items included in the reported measure of segment profit or loss. The ASU requires that a public entity disclose the title and position of the CODM and an explanation of how the CODM uses the reported measure(s) of segment profit or loss in assessing segment performance and deciding how to allocate resources. Public entities will be required to provide all annual disclosures currently required by Topic 280 in interim periods, and entities with a single reportable segment are required to provide all the disclosures required by the amendments in this ASU and existing segment disclosures in Topic 280. This ASU is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2023, and interim periods within fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2024, with early adoption permitted. We adopted ASU 2023-07 as required for the year ended December 31, 2024. The adoption requires us to provide additional disclosures, but otherwise it does not materially impact our consolidated financial statements. Our management does not believe that any other recently issued, but not yet effective, accounting standards if currently adopted would have a material effect on our consolidated financial statements. ## Market risk As filed, 163 characters. We are a smaller reporting company as defined by Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act and are not required to provide the information otherwise required under this item. ## Controls and procedures As filed, 6,779 characters. ### Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures Under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including our principal executive officer and principal financial officer, we conducted an evaluation of the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures as of December 31, 2024, as such term is defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act. Based on this evaluation, our principal executive officer and principal financial officer has concluded that during the period covered by this report, our disclosure controls and procedures were not effective. During the year ended December 31, 2024, we identified a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting related to accrual for penalties and interest on the excise tax. Previously, during the year ended December 31, 2023, we identified material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting relating to our inadequate control for the withdrawal of funds from the Trust Account and inadequate control for the accounting for Class A common stock subject to possible redemption. If we are unable to develop and maintain an effective system of internal control over financial reporting, we may not be able to accurately report our financial results in a timely manner, which may adversely affect investor confidence in us and materially and adversely affect our business and operating results. Disclosure controls and procedures are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by us in our Exchange Act reports is recorded, processed, summarized, and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms, and that such information is accumulated and communicated to our management, including our principal executive officer and principal financial officer or persons performing similar functions, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure. ### Management’s Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting As required by SEC rules and regulations implementing Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting. Our internal control over financial reporting is designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of our financial statements for external reporting purposes in accordance with GAAP. Our internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that: (1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of our company, (2) .provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with GAAP, and that our receipts and expenditures are being made only in accordance with authorizations of our management and directors, and (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use or disposition of our assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements. Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect errors or misstatements in our financial statements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree or compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate. Management assessed the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting at December 31, 2024. In making these assessments, management used the criteria set forth by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission in Internal Control - Integrated Framework (2013). Based on our assessments and those criteria, management determined that we did not maintain effective internal controls for (i) the accrual of penalties and interest on excise tax payable and (ii) the withdrawal of funds from the Trust Account as of December 31, 2024. Management has implemented remediation steps to improve our internal control over financial reporting. Specifically, we expanded and improved our review process for complex securities, new tax regulations and related accounting standards. We plan to further improve this process by enhancing access to accounting literature, identification of third-party professionals with whom to consult regarding complex accounting and tax applications and consideration of additional staff with the requisite experience and training to supplement existing accounting professionals. This Annual Report on Form 10-K does not include an attestation report of our independent registered public accounting firm due to our status as an emerging growth company under the JOBS Act. ### Changes in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting There were no changes in our internal control over financial reporting during the most recent fiscal quarter that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting. ### Inherent Limitations on Effectiveness of Controls Management recognizes that a control system, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the objectives of the control system are met. Further, the design of a control system must reflect the fact that there are resource constraints, and that management is required to apply its judgment in evaluating the benefits of possible controls and procedures relative to their costs. Because of the inherent limitations in all control systems, no evaluation of controls can provide absolute assurance that all control issues and instances of fraud or error, if any, have been detected. These inherent limitations include the realities that judgments in decision making can be faulty, and that breakdowns can occur because of a simple error or mistake. Additionally, controls can be circumvented by the individual acts of some persons, by collusion of two or more people, or by management override of the controls. The design of any system of controls also is based in part upon certain assumptions about the likelihood of future events, and there can be no assurance that any design will succeed in achieving its stated goals under all potential future conditions; over time, controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or the degree of compliance with policies or procedures may deteriorate. Because of the inherent limitations in a cost-effective control system, misstatements due to error or fraud may occur and not be detected. Filed Apr 15, 2025. Source: SEC EDGAR, the filing index for accession 0000950170-25-053870. Last ingested by Listed: Nov 4, 2026, 19:22 ET. No prices; not investment advice.