Ігор Вишневський Money 10 December 2025, 14:40

Intel has taken a major step towards acquiring AI chip startup SambaNova, which was valued at $5 billion

Intel has signed a preliminary agreement to acquire artificial intelligence chip development startup SambaNova Systems.

This is reported by WIRED, citing two sources directly familiar with the deal.

The detailed terms of the contract are unknown, but at this time this agreement is not yet binding and can be terminated without penalty.

«It may take several weeks or even months before regulatory approvals, liability checks and financial due diligence are completed,» the publication notes.

Intel’s interest in acquiring the startup was first reported by Bloomberg in late October, but at that time the negotiations were in the early stages.

Wired notes that SambaNova could be sold for less than its $5 billion valuation.

Interestingly, Intel and SambaNova Systems are already connected through a number of investors and officials, including Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan.

A SambaNova spokesperson declined to comment, and Intel also did not respond to requests for comment at the time of publication.

SambaNova Systems was founded in 2017 in Palo Alto, California, by Kunle Olukotun, Rodrigo Liang, and Christopher Re. Olukotun and Re are professors at Stanford University, and Liang previously held a senior position at Oracle.

As of early 2025, the startup had raised $1.14 billion in funding. In 2020, it raised $250 million from asset management firm BlackRock, Intel Capital, venture capital firm GV, and other investors, bringing the startup’s valuation to $2.5 billion.

The following year, SambaNova was valued at $5 billion after a massive $676 million funding round led by SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2.

Meanwhile, as dev.ua reported, Intel received $5.7 billion from the US government as part of a new support agreement.

Moreover, Trump is even considering having the US government buy out a stake in Intel.

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