Intel (INTC) Stock: After a Failed $1.6B Buyout, Intel Backs SambaNova for $350M

TLDR

• Intel is joining a $350 million funding round for AI chip startup SambaNova Systems, alongside Vista Equity Partners, Battery Ventures, and T. Rowe Price.
• The two companies are forming a multiyear partnership where SambaNova will adopt Intel server chips and GPUs.
• Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan has been SambaNova’s chairman since 2017 and was an early investor through his venture firm Walden International.
• Intel had previously explored buying SambaNova for $1.6 billion, but those talks fell apart.
• SambaNova’s new SN50 chip claims to outperform Nvidia’s B200 GPUs, offering five times more compute per accelerator.

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Intel is investing in AI chip startup SambaNova Systems as part of a $350 million Series E funding round.

The deal also includes a multiyear commercial partnership where SambaNova will adopt Intel server chips and graphics cards.

The move comes after Intel reportedly explored acquiring SambaNova outright for around $1.6 billion, including debt. Those talks fell apart, according to reports from Bloomberg and Reuters in January.

Intel Corporation, INTC

Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan has a long history with SambaNova. He first invested in the startup through his venture firm, Walden International, and became its chairman in 2017 — eight years before taking the top job at Intel.

Tan recused himself from discussions about the partnership, an Intel spokesperson confirmed.

Other new investors in the Series E round include Vista Equity Partners, Cambium Capital, Battery Ventures, and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price. Existing backers include Google’s venture arm, Qatar Investment Authority, and Seligman Ventures.

SambaNova counts Hugging Face, Meta, and major AI labs among its customers.

SN50 vs. Nvidia

SambaNova is pushing hard on its new SN50 chip. The company says it delivers five times more compute per accelerator and four times more network bandwidth than its previous generation.

CEO Rodrigo Liang claims it outperforms the GPUs found in Nvidia’s B200 Blackwell systems and offers more computing power per dollar. Customers can connect up to 256 of the processors together.

SoftBank, an existing SambaNova customer and major OpenAI backer, will be the first to deploy the SN50 — inside its next-generation AI data centers in Japan.

The Intel Angle

Intel’s revenue has declined for four straight years. The company has been largely absent from the AI chip boom that has made Nvidia the world’s most valuable publicly traded company.

Intel’s stock is up 75% over the past year, driven largely by U.S. government investment commitments and a deal involving Nvidia.

Tan said earlier this month at a Cisco event that Intel is building its own graphics card.

The SambaNova partnership gives Intel a foot in the door with AI infrastructure customers while that product is still in development.

SambaNova is also looking to expand its own cloud for running AI models and plans to sell clusters for use in corporate data centers.

Intel Capital is listed as one of the new strategic investors in the Series E round.

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