Qualcomm explores $8-10 billion acquisition of Jim Keller's Tenstorrent AI chipmaker

Qualcomm mulls taking over Jim Keller's Tenstorrent, report claims -- deal for AI chipmaker would value the company at between $8 billion and $10 billion

Qualcomm is evaluating an acquisition of Jim Keller-led AI processor developer Tenstorrent in a transaction that could value the company at between $8 billion and $10 billion, reports The Information. The discussions are ongoing, and there is no guarantee that a deal will be reached, but if the takeover proceeds, it will not only value Tenstorrent at a premium but will be one of the most expensive transactions in Qualcomm's history. The report claims that Qualcomm is particularly interested in Tenstorrent's RISC-V-based AI accelerators and data center-grade CPU IP, though it does not specify how the company plans to integrate Tenstorrent and its products into its lineup. For AI, Qualcomm already has its Qualcomm AI200 and AI250 accelerators based on its Hexagon neural processing units (NPUs) customized for data center AI workloads that are due to ship in 2026. For general-purpose computing, Qualcomm is developing its own server CPUs, presumably based on the Arm instruction set architecture, and recently acquired Ventana Micro, which has a data center-grade RISC-V-powered CPU design. Qualcomm is known for having a multi-faceted strategy, but having two different types of AI accelerators and three types of data center CPUs (one Arm-based, two RISC-V-based) may not be the most optimal strategy for the company. Qualcomm is one of the companies that acquires other entities, both to get new IP and competencies as well as actual development teams. While the company's acquisition of Atheros in 2011 transformed Qualcomm from primarily an application processor and cellular modem supplier into a company with a broad portfolio of communication products that includes Ethernet and Wi-Fi, the takeover of Nuvia brought the company fresh blood and put it on the map as a client CPU supplier. The same applies to more recent acquisitions of Alphawave Semi (optical connectivity, chiplets, SerDes, IP, new engineers) and Ventana Micro (RISC-V CPU IP, a CPU developers team). The potential valuation is another point of concern. Last year, the company was seeking approximately $800 million from investors at a valuation of around $3.2 billion, although it remains unclear whether that financing round was completed, according to The Information. Meanwhile, right now Qualcomm and Tenstorrent are reportedly discussing a valuation between $8 billion and $10 billion, and it is unclear whether this valuation is performance milestones-based. Yet, given that Qualcomm already has AI acceleration and CPU IP, paying $8 billion - $10 billion for Tenstorrent would be difficult to justify. Such sums represent a massive premium for a company whose hardware business remains relatively small compared to established AI accelerator vendors. That said, the more compelling explanation is people. Tenstorrent has assembled one of the industry's strongest collections of CPU, AI, interconnect, compiler, and systems architects. The obvious name is Jim Keller, but the company has spent years hiring engineers from AMD, Apple, Intel, Tesla, and others, and this team knows how to build chips. Qualcomm has consistently demonstrated that it is willing to spend billions to acquire elite engineering teams rather than build them from scratch. The Nuvia acquisition is the best precedent: Qualcomm did not buy Nuvia because it lacked Arm licenses or CPU design capability. It bought Nuvia because it wanted the team led by Gerard Williams III and the ability to accelerate its CPU roadmap by years with the Oryon IP. That said, Tenstorrent looks less like an AI accelerator acquisition and more like a talent and future-architecture acquisition, as in addition to the talented team, Qualcomm would also get plenty of RISC-V expertise, which will make it the leading developer of RISC-V-based solutions in general. Follow Tom's Hardware on Google News, or add us as a preferred source, to get our latest news, analysis, & reviews in your feeds.

Qualcomm said to be circling AI chip biz Tenstorrent in $10B RISC-V power play

Potential takeover would represent significant commitment to the open instruction set architecture Qualcomm is reportedly moving to buy AI chip firm Tenstorrent, an acquisition that could prove a major boost to the RISC-V ecosystem. This comes from The Information, which cites an anonymous source claiming that a deal valued at $8 billion to $10 billion is under discussion. According to the report, the talks are ongoing and there is no certainty a deal will be reached, but the move would fit with Qualcomm's datacenter ambitions and bullish statements about AI opportunities made by its chief, Cristiano Amon. The Register asked Qualcomm and Tenstorrent to comment. Tenstorrent is a Canadian AI chip startup that bases its products on the permissively licensed RISC-V processor architecture. The company is led by CPU guru Jim Keller, known for his design work at AMD, Apple, and on DEC's Alpha chips back in the day. The firm's Galaxy Blackhole AI compute platform went on sale earlier this year, packing 32 of its Blackhole accelerators, each with 768 RISC-V cores, into a 6U enclosure running its own software stack. Qualcomm is also keen on RISC-V, especially since its licensing court battle with chip designer Arm, which wanted to nix Qualy's license to create its own Arm-based processor silicon. The chip design firm's datacenter products use home-brew Hexagon neural processing units, but it continues to rely on Arm processors in its Snapdragon range. In December, Qualcomm picked up Ventana Micro Systems, another company designing RISC-V CPUs targeting datacenter and enterprise applications. Financial details of that were not disclosed, but estimated at between $200 million and $600 million. A Tenstorrent buy could therefore see a greater commitment to RISC-V from Qualcomm, giving the open standard a shot in the arm (pun intended) and allowing the chipmaker to further distance itself from Arm and its owner SoftBank as it pursues datacenter customers. Arm appears unfazed by that prospect, having recently said it expects datacenter chips will soon be its main source of revenue. ®

Qualcomm in talks to buy Tenstorrent: Report

The talks were ongoing and the price could change, or the discussions could fall apart, according to the report. It was not clear if the price will include performance-based milestone payments, a ⁠structure used in the past to buy chip startups, the Information added. Qualcomm is in talks to acquire AI chip startup Tenstorrent for $8 billion to $10 billion, The Information reported on Monday citing a person with knowledge of the deal. Shares of Qualcomm fell about ⁠1% ⁠in extended trading. The talks were ongoing and the price could change, or the discussions could fall apart, according to the report. It was not clear if the price will include performance-based milestone payments, a ⁠structure used in the past to buy chip startups, the Information added. Qualcomm and ⁠Tenstorrent did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment. Reuters could not independently verify the report. One of the world's largest suppliers of smartphone chips, Qualcomm has increasingly sought to reduce its dependence on the cyclical handset market by expanding into high-growth segments such as data center processors and autonomous vehicle chips. Founded ⁠in 2016, Tenstorrent is headed by Jim Keller, a former Apple chip designer who also oversaw Tesla's efforts to design a chip for autonomous driving. The startup develops accelerators for training AI models and running AI applications.