Intel Makes Significant Move Toward Acquiring Chip Startup SambaNova

Intel has entered a term sheet to acquire the AI chip startup SambaNova Systems, as reported by two sources familiar with the agreement to WIRED.

The specifics of the term sheet remain undisclosed. Since the agreement is nonbinding, the deal is not finalized and can be revoked without penalties. Regulatory approvals, liability assessments, and financial due diligence could take several weeks or even months.

Bloomberg first highlighted Intel’s interest in acquiring the startup in late October, indicating that discussions were still in their initial phases. It was mentioned that SambaNova might be sold for less than its claimed $5 billion valuation from April 2021.

Importantly, Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan serves as the executive chairman of SambaNova Systems. Additionally, Intel Capital, which is currently being spun off into an independent fund, has invested in SambaNova. Japanese investor SoftBank Group, which significantly invested in Intel earlier this year, is also among SambaNova’s backers.

A representative for SambaNova chose not to comment. At the time of publication, Intel had not replied to requests for comments.

Founded in 2017 in Palo Alto, California, SambaNova Systems was established by Kunle Olukotun, Rodrigo Liang, and Christopher Ré. Olukotun and Ré are professors at Stanford, while Liang previously held an executive position at Oracle. The company develops an AI chip platform for inference computing, where extensive language models analyze vast datasets to make predictions.

As of early 2025, SambaNova had secured $1.14 billion in funding, according to PitchBook data. In 2020, the startup raised $250 million from investors including BlackRock, Intel Capital, and GV, raising its valuation to $2.5 billion. The following year, after a substantial funding round of $676 million led by SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2, SambaNova’s valuation rose to $5 billion.

Since then, the startup’s implied valuation has decreased, with reports indicating that BlackRock reduced the value of its SambaNova shares by 17 percent over the previous year, as stated by The Information. This decline likely made SambaNova an attractive target for Intel, particularly as Intel has been falling behind other chipmakers in the AI chip market.

Following his appointment as CEO earlier this year, Intel’s Tan expressed his intention to stabilize Intel’s debt, divest noncore assets, and adopt AI-first strategies. Additionally, the struggling chip manufacturer received an $8.9 billion capital boost from the US government in August, which is intended for expanding domestic semiconductor production.