Intel (INTC) Stock: Invests in SambaNova’s $350M Round After Buyout Talks Fell Apart

TLDR

• Intel is joining a $350M funding round for AI chip startup SambaNova Systems.
• The two companies are forming a multiyear partnership using Intel server chips and GPUs.
• Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan has chaired SambaNova since 2017 and previously tried to buy it for $1.6B.
• SambaNova’s new SN50 chip claims to outperform Nvidia’s B200 GPUs at a lower cost.
• SoftBank will be the first to deploy the SN50 in its Japan AI data centers.

Intel is putting money into AI chip startup SambaNova Systems as part of a $350 million Series E funding round — and the two companies are teaming up commercially at the same time.

The partnership means SambaNova will adopt Intel server chips and graphics cards across a multiyear agreement, giving Intel a direct route into AI infrastructure deployments.

Intel Corporation, INTC

This deal follows failed acquisition talks. Intel had explored buying SambaNova for roughly $1.6 billion including debt, but those discussions fell apart, according to reports from Bloomberg and Reuters in January.

Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan has been SambaNova’s chairman since 2017, after his venture firm Walden International made an early investment in the startup alongside Google’s venture arm. Tan recused himself from partnership discussions, an Intel spokesperson confirmed.

SN50 Takes Aim at Nvidia

SambaNova is launching the SN50, a chip it says delivers five times more compute per accelerator and four times more network bandwidth than its previous generation.

CEO Rodrigo Liang told CNBC the SN50 outperforms the GPUs in Nvidia’s B200 Blackwell systems and offers more computing power per dollar. Up to 256 processors can be connected together.

SoftBank, an existing SambaNova customer, will be first to deploy the SN50 inside next-generation AI data centers in Japan.

Intel’s Push Into AI

Intel’s revenue has declined for four straight years while Nvidia became the world’s most valuable publicly traded company on the back of AI chip demand.

Intel’s stock is up 75% over the past year, driven largely by U.S. government investment and a Nvidia-related deal. The company is also building its own graphics card, which Tan referenced at a Cisco event earlier this month.

Other new investors in the Series E round include Vista Equity Partners, Cambium Capital, Battery Ventures, and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price.

SambaNova counts Hugging Face, Meta, and major AI labs as customers and is expanding its own cloud for running AI models.

Intel Capital is listed among the new strategic investors in the round.

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