[News] Intel Reportedly Eyes AI Startup SambaNova, Where Lip-Bu Tan Serves as Executive Chairman

After refreshing its AI chip roadmap with the next-gen Crescent Island data center GPU following Gaudi, Intel is reportedly eyeing its next move in AI. Bloomberg and Reuters report that the chipmaker in early talks to acquire AI chip startup SambaNova Systems, where CEO Lip-Bu Tan has served as executive chairman since May 2024.

Notably, SambaNova, a designer of custom AI chips, has long-standing ties to Team Blue. Bloomberg reports that while Lip-Bu Tan serves as executive chairman, his venture firm Walden International was one of SambaNova’s founding investors, leading a $56 million Series A in 2018. SoftBank Group later headed a $676 million round in 2021, valuing the startup at $5 billion, the report adds.

However, any transaction would likely value SambaNova below the $5 billion it achieved in the 2021 funding round, according to Bloomberg.

The chipmaker has reportedly been discussing possible deal terms with SambaNova, which has been working with bankers to gauge interest from potential buyers. As Reuters notes, a takeover of SambaNova would mark a shift in Intel’s acquisition strategy from April, when CFO David Zinsner said the company had no plans for major deals in the near term.

More about SambaNova

SambaNova was founded in 2017 in Palo Alto, California, and counts some of the tech industry’s biggest names among its investors, including Intel Capital, Micron’s Intelligence Accelerated, SK Telecom, Samsung Catalyst Fund, and BlackRock, according to the company’s website.

It is interesting to note that while NVIDIA tightened its dominance in chips used for training large AI models, SambaNova pivoted toward the inference market—building systems optimized to run already-trained models, Bloomberg suggests.

According to EE Times, SambaNova has laid off 77 employees, roughly 15% of its 500-strong workforce, as it pivots its business strategy. A company spokesperson told EE Times that the cuts come as SambaNova shifts away from training workloads toward AI cloud services.

Read more

• [News] Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan Reportedly Meets Saudi Minister to Advance AI and Chip Cooperation
• [News] Intel Renews AI Chip Push with Crescent Island, 2H26 Sampling; Reportedly Targeting Annual GPUs

(Photo credit: SambaNova)