Tenstorrent Raises $700 Million to Challenge Nvidia in AI Chip Market

Is this startup the next Nvidia? Samsung, LG and billionaire Jeff Bezos are all investing in it; here's what it is doing to become the next AI powerhouse

Nvidia is one of those companies that have shown a massive surge in the technology sector in the last couple of months, surpassing even Apple in terms of valuation. Meanwhile, Samsung, LG and Jeff Bezos are investing and projecting another tech-based startup, which reportedly has the potential to become the next Nvidia of the tech world. Here's some more detailsIt does not usually happen that Samsung, LG and Jeff Bezos put their heads together to back a certain company, but in the case of Tenstorrent, a startup computing company, all of them have put in their efforts and money so that this new startup can build affordable AI chips and processing and rival Nvidia, which is also operating on similar lines. It is understandable that Samsung, Jeff Bezos and LG will be looking at taking down the tech giant Nvidia, by backing a rival startup company producing similar products, but it is yet to be understood how effective Tenstorrent would be as a company against Nvidia, a company that has a massive production scale and billions in valuation. Also Read: Son and daughter of legendary comedic actors announce engagement; who are they? Here are all details as fans go in shock There is some great amount of hope for Tenstorrent, as it nearly garnered $700 million through investors like Samsung, Bezos Expeditions, and LG Electronics, which is a great sign for the company, looking at the fact that the company's valuation is now standing at about $2.6 billion, as per a Bloomberg report. Although Nvidia is far ahead in this AI chip development race, having planing its R&D for years, Tenstorrent, if backed by the right horses, will be not very far away from its competitor. Reports suggest that there some more investors in line for the further funding rounds to be hosted by Tenstorrent, which would drive up its valuation even more. Also Read : Iconic AC/DC announces first U.S shows in 9 years; here are location, venues, dates and all details What does Tenstorrent do? Tenstorrent is a semiconductor company focused on developing AI acceleration chips. These chips are designed to significantly speed up the training and inference processes of AI models, Are Tenstorrent and Nvidia rival companies? Yes, Tenstorrent and Nvidia are considered rival companies in the AI chip market. Both companies are developing advanced chips designed to accelerate AI workloads, particularly in areas like machine learning and deep learning.

Nvidia challenger Tenstorrent completes $700 million funding round backed by Jeff Bezos, other high-profile investors

In context: As AI continues to remake industries, the demand for more efficient and cost-effective AI chips is poised for immense growth. Tenstorrent's success in attracting this investment suggests that the market is ready for alternatives to Nvidia's offerings. Tenstorrent, a Santa Clara, California-based startup, has secured nearly $700 million in funding, catapulting its valuation to $2.6 billion. This investment round, led by South Korea's AFW Partners and Samsung Securities, signals the emergence of another Nvidia competitor. The company is also attracting the attention of tech industry titans. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, through his investment firm Bezos Expeditions, has thrown his weight behind Tenstorrent's vision. Other investors include Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics, Fidelity Management & Research Company, Hyundai Motor Group, Export Development Canada, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan, and Baillie Gifford. At the heart of Tenstorrent's appeal is its approach to AI chip design. The company, led by semiconductor pioneer Jim Keller, is focusing on developing more cost-effective and power-efficient solutions for AI development. Unlike Nvidia, which relies heavily on expensive high-bandwidth memory (HBM), Tenstorrent is leveraging open-source technology and standard components. Tenstorrent is a strong advocate for the open-standard RISC-V processor architecture. This approach not only attracts talented engineers but also fosters innovation and interoperability with other technology providers, Keller told Bloomberg. "Open source helps you build a bigger platform. It attracts engineers. And yes, it's a little bit of a passion project." The company's strategy revolves around avoiding the use of HBM, which Keller believes gives Nvidia an insurmountable cost advantage. "You can't beat Nvidia if you use HBM, because Nvidia buys the most HBM and has a cost advantage," Keller stated. "But they'll never be able to bring the price down the way HBM is built into their products and their sockets". Tenstorrent plans to utilize the newly acquired funds to expand its engineering team, strengthen its global supply chain, and build AI training servers to showcase its technology. The company aims to release a new AI processor every two years, aligning with the rapid pace of innovation in the industry. Tenstorrent's manufacturing strategy involves partnerships with leading chip fabricators. Its first chips were produced by GlobalFoundries, with future iterations planned through Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and Samsung. The company is also exploring 2-nanometer chip designs, in line with TSMC and Samsung's production timelines, as well as Japan's Rapidus Corp., which targets 2nm output by 2027. While Tenstorrent has secured nearly $150 million in contracts, it still faces an uphill battle against Nvidia's dominance. Nvidia currently generates tens of billions in datacenter revenue each quarter. However, Tenstorrent's approach and high-profile backing position it as an interesting challenger in the AI chip landscape.

In a bid to compete with Nvidia, Jeff Bezos and Samsung invest $700 million in AI chip startup Tenstorrent

Tenstorrent has plans to manufacture its new AI chips through TSMC and Samsung. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has reportedly backed a $700 million funding round for Tenstorrent, an AI chip startup, valuing the company at $2.6 billion. The investment, led by South Korea's AFW Partners and Samsung Securities, positions Tenstorrent as a serious competitor to Nvidia which is currently the dominant player in the AI chip market. Other investors include LG Electronics, Fidelity, and Hyundai Motor Group. Tenstorrent, headquartered in Santa Clara, California, plans to use the funds to expand its engineering team, strengthen its global supply chain, and build AI training servers to showcase its technology. The startup aims to develop chips that offer more cost-effective and power-efficient solutions for AI development, leveraging open-source technology and avoiding the costly high-bandwidth memory (HBM) favored by Nvidia. "You can't beat Nvidia if you use HBM, because Nvidia buys the most HBM and has a cost advantage. But they'll never be able to bring the price down the way HBM is built into their products and their sockets," said Tenstorrent CEO Jim Keller. Unlike Nvidia's proprietary ecosystem, Tenstorrent is focusing on interoperability with other technology providers. It advocates for the open-standard RISC-V processor architecture, which Keller believes attracts engineers and fosters innovation. Tenstorrent's approach reflects a growing trend in the AI chip industry, where startups are challenging Nvidia's dominance by offering alternatives tailored to specific needs. While Nvidia generates tens of billions in datacenter revenue each quarter, Tenstorrent has secured nearly $150 million in contracts -- a modest figure but a signal of its potential. The company aims to release a new AI processor every two years. Its first chips were manufactured by GlobalFoundries, with future iterations planned through Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) and Samsung. Tenstorrent is also exploring 2-nanometer chip designs, aligning with TSMC and Samsung's production timelines and Japan's Rapidus Corp., which targets 2nm output by the year 2027. As Tenstorrent scales up, it faces the challenge of proving its technology in a market where Nvidia's dominance remains unmatched. However, with backing from high-profile investors and an innovative open-source approach, it's positioned as a formidable challenger in the AI chip landscape.

Bezos backs AI chipmaker vying with Nvidia at $2.6 billion value

Amazon.com Inc. founder Jeff Bezos joined Samsung in a $700 million bet on Tenstorrent, valuing the AI chip startup with ambitions of taking on Nvidia Corp. at about $2.6 billion. Tenstorrent, which hopes to create a chip to try and break Nvidia's stranglehold on the AI business, raised capital in a funding round led by South Korea's AFW Partners and Samsung Securities, founder and semiconductor pioneer Jim Keller said in an interview. Bezos Expeditions joined LG Electronics Inc. and Fidelity in that financing, betting on Keller's pedigree and the booming opportunity in artificial intelligence tech. The money will be used to build out Tenstorrent's engineering team, invest in its global supply chain and build large artificial intelligence training servers to help demonstrate its technology. As the quest for more power and cost efficiency in AI ramps up, smaller companies are sprouting up trying to snatch market share from Nvidia's power-hungry chips. Tenstorrent, an Nvidia neighbor in Santa Clara, California, is one of many now engineering solutions aimed at delivering a more affordable path to AI development. That's built on open-source and commonplace technology, avoiding complex and pricey components like the high-bandwidth memory Nvidia favors. "You can't beat Nvidia if you use HBM, because Nvidia buys the most HBM and has a cost advantage," Keller said. "But they'll never be able to bring the price down the way HBM is built into their products and their sockets." Nvidia offers developers a full suite of proprietary technology, covering everything from the chips to the interconnects and even data center layouts, with the promise of all parts working better because they were designed in concert. Companies like rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc. and Tenstorrent are instead aiming for greater interoperability with other technology providers, whether through shared industry standards or opening their designs for others to use. Tenstorrent is also a proponent of an alternative kind of logic processor based on an open standard called RISC-V, which poses a challenge to Arm Holdings Plc. Keller, known for his silicon design work at Apple Inc., Tesla Inc. and AMD, is an advocate. "In the past, I worked with proprietary tech and it was really tough," Keller said. "Open source helps you build a bigger platform. It attracts engineers. And yes, it's a little bit of a passion project." Much like RISC-V and Japanese partner Rapidus Corp., Tenstorrent still has a lot to prove. To date, the nascent company has signed contracts with customers totaling nearly $150 million, which pales in comparison to Nvidia's tens of billions of dollars of datacenter revenue each quarter. Tenstorrent plans to release a new AI processor at a cadence of every two years, Keller said. Nvidia, on the other hand, intends to refresh its AI chip offerings on an annual cycle, its boss Jensen Huang said in June. AFW Partners invested after hearing positive feedback from Korean companies already collaborating with Tenstorrent, such as LG, said managing director Bonil Koo. Tenstorrent's first chips were made by GlobalFoundries Inc., and the next iterations will come from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and Samsung Electronics Co., the company said. It's begun designing for cutting-edge 2-nanometer fabrication as well. TSMC and Samsung will commence their mass production at that scale next year, and Tenstorrent is in discussions with them and Japan's Rapidus, which aims for 2nm output in 2027. Other investors in this funding round include Export Development Canada, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan, [hotlink]Hyundai Motor[/hotlink] Group and Baillie Gifford.

Bezos backs AI chipmaker vying with Nvidia at $2.6 billion value

Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos joined Samsung in a $700 million bet on Tenstorrent, valuing the AI chip startup with ambitions of taking on Nvidia at about $2.6 billion. Tenstorrent, which hopes to create a chip to try and break Nvidia's stranglehold on the AI business, raised capital in a funding round led by South Korea's AFW Partners and Samsung Securities, founder and semiconductor pioneer Jim Keller said in an interview. Bezos Expeditions joined LG Electronics and Fidelity in that financing, betting on Keller's pedigree and the booming opportunity in artificial intelligence tech. The money will be used to build out Tenstorrent's engineering team, invest in its global supply chain and build large artificial intelligence training servers to help demonstrate its technology. As the quest for more power and cost efficiency in AI ramps up, smaller companies are sprouting up trying to snatch market share from Nvidia's power-hungry chips. Tenstorrent, a Nvidia neighbor in Santa Clara, California, is one of many now engineering solutions aimed at delivering a more affordable path to AI development. That's built on open-source and commonplace technology, avoiding complex and pricey components like the high-bandwidth memory Nvidia favors. "You can't beat Nvidia if you use HBM, because Nvidia buys the most HBM and has a cost advantage," Keller said. "But they'll never be able to bring the price down the way HBM is built into their products and their sockets." Nvidia offers developers a full suite of proprietary technology, covering everything from the chips to the interconnects and even data center layouts, with the promise of all parts working better because they were designed in concert. Companies like rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc. and Tenstorrent are instead aiming for greater interoperability with other technology providers, whether through shared industry standards or opening their designs for others to use. Tenstorrent is also a proponent of an alternative kind of logic processor based on an open standard called RISC-V, which poses a challenge to Arm Holdings. Keller, known for his silicon design work at Apple, Tesla and AMD, is an advocate. "In the past, I worked with proprietary tech and it was really tough," Keller said. "Open source helps you build a bigger platform. It attracts engineers. And yes, it's a little bit of a passion project." Much like RISC-V and Japanese partner Rapidus, Tenstorrent still has a lot to prove. To date, the nascent company has signed contracts with customers totaling nearly $150 million, which pales in comparison to Nvidia's tens of billions of dollars of datacenter revenue each quarter. Tenstorrent plans to release a new AI processor at a cadence of every two years, Keller said. Nvidia, on the other hand, intends to refresh its AI chip offerings on an annual cycle, its boss Jensen Huang said in June. AFW Partners invested after hearing positive feedback from Korean companies already collaborating with Tenstorrent, such as LG, said managing director Bonil Koo. Tenstorrent's first chips were made by GlobalFoundries, and the next iterations will come from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing and Samsung Electronics, the company said. It's begun designing for cutting-edge 2-nanometer fabrication as well. TSMC and Samsung will commence their mass production at that scale next year, and Tenstorrent is in discussions with them and Japan's Rapidus, which aims for 2nm output in 2027. Other investors in this funding round include Export Development Canada, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan, Hyundai Motor Group and Baillie Gifford.

Bezos Backs AI Chipmaker Vying With Nvidia at $2.6 Billion Value

(Bloomberg) -- Amazon.com Inc. founder Jeff Bezos joined Samsung in a $700 million bet on Tenstorrent, valuing the AI chip startup with ambitions of taking on Nvidia Corp. at about $2.6 billion. Tenstorrent, which hopes to create a chip to try and break Nvidia's stranglehold on the AI business, raised capital in a funding round led by South Korea's AFW Partners and Samsung Securities, founder and semiconductor pioneer Jim Keller said in an interview. Bezos Expeditions joined LG Electronics Inc. and Fidelity in that financing, betting on Keller's pedigree and the booming opportunity in artificial intelligence tech. The money will be used to build out Tenstorrent's engineering team, invest in its global supply chain and build large artificial intelligence training servers to help demonstrate its technology. As the quest for more power and cost efficiency in AI ramps up, smaller companies are sprouting up trying to snatch market share from Nvidia's power-hungry chips. Tenstorrent, an Nvidia neighbor in Santa Clara, California, is one of many now engineering solutions aimed at delivering a more affordable path to AI development. That's built on open-source and commonplace technology, avoiding complex and pricey components like the high-bandwidth memory Nvidia favors. "You can't beat Nvidia if you use HBM, because Nvidia buys the most HBM and has a cost advantage," Keller said. "But they'll never be able to bring the price down the way HBM is built into their products and their sockets." Nvidia offers developers a full suite of proprietary technology, covering everything from the chips to the interconnects and even data center layouts, with the promise of all parts working better because they were designed in concert. Companies like rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc. and Tenstorrent are instead aiming for greater interoperability with other technology providers, whether through shared industry standards or opening their designs for others to use. Tenstorrent is also a proponent of an alternative kind of logic processor based on an open standard called RISC-V, which poses a challenge to Arm Holdings Plc. Keller, known for his silicon design work at Apple Inc., Tesla Inc. and AMD, is an advocate. "In the past, I worked with proprietary tech and it was really tough," Keller said. "Open source helps you build a bigger platform. It attracts engineers. And yes, it's a little bit of a passion project." Much like RISC-V and Japanese partner Rapidus Corp., Tenstorrent still has a lot to prove. To date, the nascent company has signed contracts with customers totaling nearly $150 million, which pales in comparison to Nvidia's tens of billions of dollars of datacenter revenue each quarter. Tenstorrent plans to release a new AI processor at a cadence of every two years, Keller said. Nvidia, on the other hand, intends to refresh its AI chip offerings on an annual cycle, its boss Jensen Huang said in June. AFW Partners invested after hearing positive feedback from Korean companies already collaborating with Tenstorrent, such as LG, said managing director Bonil Koo. Tenstorrent's first chips were made by GlobalFoundries Inc., and the next iterations will come from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and Samsung Electronics Co., the company said. It's begun designing for cutting-edge 2-nanometer fabrication as well. TSMC and Samsung will commence their mass production at that scale next year, and Tenstorrent is in discussions with them and Japan's Rapidus, which aims for 2nm output in 2027. Other investors in this funding round include Export Development Canada, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan, Hyundai Motor Group and Baillie Gifford.

Jeff Bezos-Backed Tenstorrent Targets Nvidia With Affordable AI Chips

In a market dominated by Nvidia, Tenstorrent offers an alternative. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has invested in the up-and-coming AI hardware company Tenstorrent, contributing to a $700 million funding round that values the startup at around $2.6 billion, Bloomberg reported on Monday, Dec. 2. In a market dominated by Nvidia, Tenstorrent stands out for its focus on cheaper, more cost-effective AI accelerators. Tenstorrent's Latest Funding Round Since launching its first hardware products in 2021, Tenstorrent has emerged as one of the leading contenders to carve away some of Nvidia's dominance in the AI chip market. The company's latest funding round , led by South Korea's AFW Partners and Samsung Securities, suggests strong investor confidence in its mission. But catching up with the high performance of Nvidia's GPUs may be too much of a challenge, hence Tenstorrent's focus on mid-range solutions at a more affordable price range. An Alternative to $70,000 Nvidia Chips Whether customers require individual processors or scalable data center solutions, Tenstorrent's primary selling point is its focus on affordability. According to the website, Individual "Wormhole" chips can be picked up for as little as $999, while larger server racks containing multiple chips are comparably affordable. In contrast, Nvidia's high-end Blackwell GPUs cost as much as $70,000 a piece, and full servers can run into the millions. Tenstorrent claims its systems have "superior performance density for cost," i.e., they offer users more bang for their buck. But the company isn't just vying for a slice of the booming AI data center market. Desktop Processing While Nvidia has doubled down on large-scale data centers and cloud provisioning, Tenstorrent sees an opportunity in desktop AI. For customers who don't want to rely on cloud processing but don't require an Nvidia setup of their own, Tenstorrent's AI workstations sit somewhere between ordinary home computers and industrial GPU superclusters. Crucially, these machines benefit from the chip's lower power consumption than traditional GPUs, making them appropriate for small-scale researchers and AI developers.

Nvidia Challenger Tenstorrent Gets $700 Million to Bolster AI Tech | PYMNTS.com

The investment -- from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Samsung -- values the company at roughly $2.6 billion, Bloomberg News reported Monday (Dec. 2). Tenstorrent plans to use the funding to expand its engineering team, invest in its supply chain and develop large artificial intelligence (AI) training servers to demonstrate its technology. As companies increasingly seek more power/cost-efficiency in AI, smaller firms are looking to provide a more affordable alternative to Nvidia and its pricier, high-bandwidth memory (HBM) components, the report said. "You can't beat Nvidia if you use HBM, because Nvidia buys the most HBM and has a cost advantage," Tenstorrent founder Jim Keller told Bloomberg. "But they'll never be able to bring the price down the way HBM is built into their products and their sockets." The report notes that while Nvidia offers developers a suite of proprietary technology designed to function better because they were made together, companies like Tenstorrent aim for greater interoperability with other tech providers. In addition, Tenstorren also advocates for an alternative kind of logic processor based on an open standard known as RISC-V, a potential challenge to Arm, Bloomberg added. "In the past, I worked with proprietary tech and it was really tough," said Keller, a veteran of Apple, Tesla and AMD. "Open source helps you build a bigger platform. It attracts engineers. And yes, it's a little bit of a passion project." He added that Tenstorrent aims to introduce a new AI processor every two years. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, meanwhile, said in June that his company will update its chips each year. Huang last month discussed the future of his company after posting 94% year-over-year revenue growth for the third quarter. "Many AI services are running 24/7, just like any factory," Huang said during an earnings call. "We're going to see this new type of system come online. And I call it [the company's data centers] an AI factory because that's really close to what it is. It's unlike a data center of the past. "And these fundamental trends are really just beginning," he added. "We expect this to happen, this growth, this modernization and the creation of a new industry to go on for several years."

Bezos Backs AI Chipmaker Vying With Nvidia at $2.6 Billion Value

Amazon.com Inc. founder Jeff Bezos joined Samsung in a $700 million bet on Tenstorrent, valuing the AI chip startup with ambitions of taking on Nvidia Corp. at about $2.6 billion. Tenstorrent, which hopes to create a chip to try and break Nvidia's stranglehold on the AI business, raised capital in a funding round led by South Korea's AFW Partners and Samsung Securities, founder and semiconductor pioneer Jim Keller said in an interview. Bezos Expeditions joined LG Electronics Inc. and Fidelity in that financing, betting on Keller's pedigree and the booming opportunity in artificial intelligence tech.

Jeff Bezos is betting millions on a Nvidia rival

Billionaire Jeff Bezos is throwing his weight behind a computing company that's coming for Nvidia's (NVDA+2.15%) dominance of the artificial intelligence chip market. Bezos Expeditions, the Amazon (AMZN+1.05%) founder's private investment vehicle, was part of a $693 million funding round for Tenstorrent, the company announced Monday. He joined LG Electronics and Fidelity in the round led by South Korean firms Samsung Securities and AFW Partners. "We are excited by the breadth of investors that believe in our vision," Keith Witek, the chief operating officer of Tenstorrent, in a statement. "If you look at this group, you see a balance of financial investors and strategic investors, as well as some notable individuals that have conviction in our plans for AI." Tenstorrent said it will use the money to "build out open-source AI software stacks, hire developers, expand its global development and design centers, and build systems and clouds for AI developers." The company has strived to provide more accessible and affordable solutions for companies looking to develop their AI capabilities, putting itself in direct competition with fellow Santa Clara, California-based firm Nvidia. So far, it has signed about $150 million in contracts, Tenstorrent said. Currently the second-most valuable company in the world behind Apple (AAPL+1.02%), Nvidia is a Wall Street powerhouse and a behemoth in the AI chip space. Last month, it reported $35.1 billion in revenues for its fiscal third quarter, with 36% of that revenue -- or $12.6 billion -- coming from only three unnamed customers. Those sales are primarily attributable to Nvidia's Compute & Networking segment, according to filing. Although Nvidia will not disclose the customers, its top buyers are likely to include Google (GOOGL-0.17%) parent Alphabet, Meta (META+0.90%), Microsoft (MSFT+0.11%), and Tesla (TSLA+3.69%) -- all of whom are major players in the AI boom. But smaller companies are struggling to build up their AI capabilities as Big Tech firms corner the market -- and power-hungry AI chips remain prohibitively expensive. That's where Tenstorrent is hoping to come in. Founder and CEO Jim Keller told Bloomberg that Tenstorrent uses open-source and commonplace technology to provide engineering solutions that put AI in reach for more firms, and skips costly and complex parts, including like high-bandwidth memory (HBM) used by Nvidia. "You can't beat Nvidia if you use HBM, because Nvidia buys the most HBM and has a cost advantage," Keller said. "But they'll never be able to bring the price down the way HBM is built into their products and their sockets." Open-source technology has become increasingly popular amid the AI boom, given its cost effectiveness. Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that the company's first open-source, multimodal large language model, Llama 3.2, will be the way forward. "It's sort of like the Linux of AI, and we're seeing closed-source labs react by trying to slash their prices to compete with Llama," he said at Meta's annual Connect conference in September.

Jeff Bezos backs AI chipmaker Tenstorrent | TechCrunch

AI hardware startup Tenstorrent raised nearly $700 million in new funding. Tenstorrent raised a $693 million Series D round that values the company at more than $2.6 billion, Bloomberg first reported. The round was led by Samsung Securities and AFW Partners. Other investors including Hyundai and Jeff Bezos's Bezos Expeditions, among others. The Toronto-based company said it plans to use the capital to build out its engineering team and to build artificial intelligence training servers to demonstrate its technology. Jim Keller, famed microprocessor engineer and Tenstorrent CEO, told Bloomberg that the company plans to release a new AI processor every two years and has signed customer contracts totaling nearly $150 million. Tenstorrent was founded in 2016 and is one of the many startups in the current race to chip away at Nvidia's dominant AI chip market share. Other AI chip startups include Axelera, Etched and Groq, among many others.

AI chip startup Tenstorrent raises $693M deepening rivalry with Nvidia - SiliconANGLE

AI chip startup Tenstorrent raises $693M deepening rivalry with Nvidia Artificial intelligence chip making startup Tenstorrent with ambitions of taking on Nvidia Corp. today announced it closed over $693 million in funding at a pre-money valuation of $2 billion. Samsung Securities and AFW Partners led the Series D funding round. The fundraise also attracted participation from many notable investors including XTX Markets, Corner Capital, MESH, Export Development Canada, LG Electronics, Hyundai Motor Group, Fidelity Management & Research Company, Baillie Gifford, Bezos Expeditions and more. Headquartered in Santa Clara, California, Tenstorrent builds and sells computing systems designed for AI workloads developed around the company's Tensix cores. The company has placed its vision around disruption Nvidia's hold on the chip silicon market by designing a more affordable hardware for AI training and deployment by avoiding expensive components such as high-bandwidth memory that Nvidia uses. "You can't beat Nvidia if you use HBM, because Nvidia buys the most HBM and has a cost advantage," Jim Keller, chief executive of Tenstorrent told Bloomberg. "But they'll never be able to bring the price down the way HBM is built into their products and their sockets." To reach more potential customers, the company focuses on interoperable hardware design with other providers. It uses an open-standard RISC-V processor architecture, which is designed to allow a more open ecosystem for engineers and developers to adopt its processors and systems into their data center and server setups. To make this happen, Tenstorrent licenses AI and RISC-V intellectual property to customers that want to own and customize silicon for specialized use. RISC-V is an open-source instruction architecture for developing custom processors for different applications based on what's called a "reduced instruction set," which makes it every easy to work with, tailor and optimize for power, performance and features. The company said it will use the new funding to build out open-source AI software stacks and hire developers to expand global development and design centers. This will allow the company to build systems and clouds for AI developers to use and test models on its systems. "We find Tenstorrent's open-source driven approach refreshing, especially in the proprietary and often secretive world of AI accelerators," said Joshua Leahy, chief technology officer of XTX Markets. As the company begins to scale up with the new funding, it will be facing headwinds in a market where Nvidia is in ascendency. However, Keller remains confident that by providing a more affordable AI chip that can be tailor-made to business needs and releasing a new processor every two years can help maintain a commercially viable product in the AI chip industry.

Jim Keller-Led Tenstorrent Raises Another $700M For AI Chips At $2B+ Valuation

Tenstorrent, the chip startup led by vaunted semiconductor engineer Jim Keller, says it raised more than $693 million in a Series D funding that gives it a $2 billion pre-money valuation. Samsung Securities and AFW Partners led the round. Jeff Bezos' Bezos Expeditions, Fidelity Management & Research Co. and LG Electronics also joined the funding for Tenstorrent, which aims to rival semiconductor giant Nvidia in the creation of chips for AI. Export Development Canada, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan, Hyundai Motor Group, Baillie Gifford and other investors also participated in the deal. Santa Clara, California-based Tenstorrent was founded in 2016 and the company has since raised more than $1 billion, per Crunchbase. Keller, one of the most acclaimed engineers in the semiconductor industry, joined the company in 2021 as president and chief technology officer, and was named CEO in early 2023. He had previously worked at Intel, Tesla, Apple -- where he led the development of the A4 and A5 processors, which powered the iPhone 4 -- and AMD, where he was the lead architect of its K8 microarchitecture. Bloomberg reported that Tenstorrent's latest funding was $700 million total and its post-money valuation is about $2.6 billion. Tenstorrent says it plans to use the new capital to "build out open-source AI software stacks, hire developers, expand its global development and design centers, and build systems and clouds for AI developers." The company is just the latest startup at the intersection of chips and AI to raise big from investors this year. Others include:

AI chipmaker Tenstorrent secures over $693M in Series D funding By Investing.com

Tenstorrent, a company that specializes in artificial intelligence (AI) computing, has successfully raised over $693 million in a Series D funding round, achieving a pre-money valuation of $2 billion. The funding round was led by Samsung Securities (KS:016360) and AFW Partners, with significant oversubscription indicating robust investor interest. The investment round included a mix of financial and strategic investors, as well as prominent individuals. Among the participants were XTX Markets, Corner Capital, MESH, Export Development Canada, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan, LG Electronics, Hyundai Motor (OTC:HYMTF) Group, Fidelity, Baillie Gifford, and Bezos Expeditions. Keith Witek, Chief Operating Officer of Tenstorrent, expressed enthusiasm about the diverse group of investors backing the company's vision for AI. He highlighted the company's commercial traction, evidenced by approximately $150 million in closed deals, as a strong indication of the market opportunity. Tenstorrent's product offerings include AI computers powered by its proprietary Tensix cores. The company distinguishes itself with open-source software stacks and also licenses AI and RISC-V intellectual property, allowing customers to customize their own silicon solutions. The newly acquired funds from the Series D round are earmarked for several growth initiatives. Tenstorrent plans to develop open-source AI software stacks, recruit additional developers, expand its global development and design centers, and construct systems and clouds tailored for AI developers. Jim Keller, CEO of Tenstorrent, praised the investors for their support and shared their interest in the company's open-source software approach. Bonil Koo, Managing Director at AFW Partners, emphasized Tenstorrent's market momentum, innovative technology, and open-source software as key factors for their investment decision. Joshua Leahy, Chief Technology Officer at XTX Markets, also voiced support for Tenstorrent's open-source strategy in the AI accelerator space. Tenstorrent, headquartered in North America, operates across multiple global locations including Toronto, Austin, Silicon Valley, Belgrade, Tokyo, Bangalore, Singapore, and Seoul. The company is recognized for its expertise in AI software, computer architecture, silicon design, and advanced systems, and is supported by investors such as Eclipse Ventures and Real Ventures. Further information about Tenstorrent can be found on their website.