Tenstorrent Secures $1.5B Series E to Scale Galaxy Servers Independently
Jim Keller’s AI chip firm closes a $1.5 billion round at a $6.2 billion valuation, opting for independence after earlier acquisition talks with Intel and Qualcomm.
Key points
- Tenstorrent raised $1.5 billion in a Series E round led by Trace Capital and Innovation X.
- The company’s post-money valuation reached $6.2 billion, doubling its late-2024 value.
- Funds will support scaling Galaxy servers for open-weight models and licensing chip designs.
Tenstorrent announced on Monday the closure of a $1.5 billion Series E funding round. The investment establishes a post-money valuation of $6.2 billion for the AI chip company, signaling a strong financial position for its continued independent operations and expansion plans.
Trace Capital and Innovation X led the financing round, according to The Next Web. Existing and new investors participated in the deal, including Agostinelli Group, ARK Invest, Cadence Ventures, Eclipse, Fidelity, Maverick Silicon, Morgan Stanley, Protagonist, SanDisk, T. Rowe Price, Tether Investments, Virtu Financial, and XTX Markets.
Strategic Shift Toward Independence
The company’s valuation more than doubled from the $2.6 billion it held after its previous funding round in late 2024, Bloomberg reported. Earlier this year, Tenstorrent engaged in discussions with major industry players regarding a potential takeover. Bloomberg reported in May that the company held talks with Intel and Qualcomm about a possible acquisition.
Jim Keller, the CEO of Tenstorrent, told Bloomberg that the company chose to raise capital rather than sell. He cited a demonstration in May as a pivotal moment for this decision. During that event, Tenstorrent’s Galaxy servers successfully ran high-performance models from DeepSeek, proving their capability for demanding AI workloads.
Scaling Open-Weight Infrastructure
Tenstorrent stated it will use the new capital to deploy its Galaxy servers at scale. These servers are designed to run open-weight models, ranging from large language models to video generation applications. The company also plans to develop AI and CPU designs that it licenses to other manufacturers.
Samsung and LG are among the companies that license Tenstorrent’s chip designs, according to The Next Web. The firm offers a range of products, from single cards and workstations to racks, superclusters, and custom designs. Its processors utilize RISC-V, an open chip architecture, and the company publishes its software stack as open source.
What should you do?
Security and technology leaders should monitor Tenstorrent’s expansion as it challenges market leaders like Nvidia, AMD, and Broadcom. Understanding the capabilities of open-weight model servers may influence future infrastructure procurement decisions. Professionals should evaluate whether RISC-V based architectures align with their long-term hardware strategies and supply chain resilience goals.
WATCH FOR:
- Updates on Tenstorrent’s Galaxy server deployments in enterprise environments.
- New licensing agreements with major hardware manufacturers beyond Samsung and LG.
- Competitive pricing strategies as Tenstorrent targets orders too small for larger rivals.
- Developments in open-source software stack support for diverse AI models.
Background: Large language models
Large language models are a specific type of neural network trained on text. Generative AI is the broader umbrella term for any system that creates new content, including images and code. Not all generative AI uses large language models, but most modern text generators do.
What to do and how to stay safe: Tenstorrent
- Sudden role changes in output signal a successful override of system instructions.
- Hidden metadata in images or documents often carries invisible injection payloads.
- Immediate isolation of the affected session prevents lateral movement within the AI workflow.
Prompt injections exploit the model’s ability to follow instructions by hiding malicious commands in input data. Isolate affected sessions immediately and implement external guardrails to filter inputs before they reach the model.
Step-by-step guide: Prompt Injection Warning Signs: How to Spot AI Manipulation
General security guidance from the Threat Times newsroom. It is not confirmed advice from the organisations named in this story.
Frequently asked questions
Why did Tenstorrent decide to remain independent?
CEO Jim Keller told Bloomberg that the company chose to raise money instead of selling after demonstrating its Galaxy servers could run high-performance DeepSeek models.
Which firms led Tenstorrent’s latest funding round?
Trace Capital and Innovation X led the $1.5 billion Series E round, according to The Next Web.
What is Tenstorrent’s current valuation?
The company announced a post-money valuation of $6.2 billion following the recent funding round.
