GoKawiilTenstorrent raises $1.5B at $6.2B valuation for open-weight AI chips
Chip startup Tenstorrent has closed a $1.5 billion funding round that values the company at $6.2 billion, more than double its $2.6 billion valuation from late 2024. The round was led by new firm Trace Capital and Innovation X, with Cadence Ventures, Eclipse, Fidelity, SanDisk, and T. Rowe Price also participating. CEO Jim Keller said the company chose to stay independent and raise capital after demonstrating its Galaxy servers could run DeepSeek models, with funds earmarked for chips tailored to open-weight AI and video generation workloads.
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The raise comes months after Tenstorrent reportedly fielded acquisition interest from Intel and Qualcomm at lower valuations, suggesting investors see more value in the company growing independently than being absorbed. It also reflects a broader surge of funding into AI chip startups, like Etched, as investors bet on alternatives to Nvidia's dominance in inference hardware for open-weight models.
- Tenstorrent's valuation more than doubled to $6.2B in a $1.5B round.
- CEO Jim Keller cited successful DeepSeek model performance as a reason to stay independent.
- The deal fits a wider investor push into AI chip startups challenging Nvidia.
Source: techcrunch.com — Marina Temkin, 2026-10-19
Published there as: “Tenstorrent hits $6.2B valuation to scale open-weight AI chips”
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