SambaNova Raises $1 Billion at $11 Billion Valuation — AI Chip Challenger Lands JPMorgan as Customer
July 8, 2026 — Palo Alto, CA — SambaNova Systems, the AI chip startup positioning itself as a serious rival to Nvidia, has raised $1 billion in a Series F round led by General Atlantic, pushing its valuation to $11 billion. The first close of the round comes just five months after its $350 million Series E and the launch of its next-generation SN50 chip.
The Palo Alto-based company, founded in 2017, has long been seen as one of the most credible challengers to Nvidia’s dominance in AI hardware. But this latest raise — backed by a powerhouse list of investors including Seligman Ventures, T. Rowe Price, Capital Group, BlackRock, Intel, and the Qatar Investment Authority — signals that the “inference revolution” is shifting from hype to real enterprise deployment.
Why This Raise Matters
While Nvidia has owned the AI training market with its GPUs, SambaNova is betting big on AI inference — the phase where a trained model actually processes data and generates outputs. As generative AI moves from labs into real-world applications, inference workloads are exploding, and companies want hardware specifically built for that job.
SambaNova’s SN50 chip, unveiled in February 2026 and set to begin shipping in the second half of this year, is designed to handle multi-trillion-parameter models on a single rack. CEO Rodrigo Liang told TechCrunch that the company’s edge is “premium inference” — running the largest models, and running them fast.
JPMorgan Chase Signs On
Perhaps the biggest validation came alongside the funding announcement: JPMorgan Chase has selected SambaNova as its “inference-infrastructure partner.” The bank will deploy SambaNova’s SN40L and SN50 systems for on-premises, secure AI inference — a major win that Liang described as “a message to the banking industry that it’s time not to completely depend on cloud services.”
This marks a growing trend among financial institutions and enterprises to build private AI infrastructure rather than relying entirely on public cloud providers, driven by data sovereignty and security concerns.
Intel Partnership Deepens
SambaNova’s ties to Intel have also strengthened significantly. The two companies announced a multi-year partnership in February 2026 to co-develop AI inference solutions based on Intel’s Xeon processors. Intel, an investor since SambaNova’s Series C, also participated in this latest round.
This partnership came after earlier acquisition talks between Intel and SambaNova reportedly valuing the startup at around $1.6 billion fell through. In retrospect, staying independent was clearly the right call.
What’s Next for SambaNova?
Rodrigo Liang confirmed that the company is strongly considering an IPO, most likely in the U.S., in 2027. With the PHLX semiconductor index up roughly 80% year-to-date, the public markets are hungry for AI chip stories.
SambaNova will use the fresh capital to scale its supply chain and accelerate deployments. The company also counts Saudi Aramco and multiple Japanese firms among its customers, alongside sovereign cloud projects and neocloud providers.
As Liang put it: “Inference has broken everything open.”
Frequently Asked Questions
What does SambaNova do?
SambaNova builds AI chips and full-stack systems designed specifically for running large AI models (inference), rivaling Nvidia’s GPU lineup with a purpose-built architecture.
Who invested in this $1B round?
The round was led by General Atlantic, with participation from Seligman Ventures, T. Rowe Price, Capital Group, BlackRock, Intel, Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), Vista Equity Partners, Battery Ventures, and others.
Is SambaNova planning to go public?
Yes. CEO Rodrigo Liang told CNBC that the company is strongly considering a U.S. IPO in 2027.
What makes the SN50 chip different from Nvidia GPUs?
The SN50 is a purpose-built inference chip that can fit multi-trillion-parameter models on a single rack, designed for speed and efficiency in running AI models — not just training them.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Always do your own research before making investment decisions.