Tenstorrent
Component
RISC-V AI processors (Ascalon CPU + Tensix AI cores) sold as silicon and as licensable IP.
Tenstorrent designs AI and RISC-V processors and licenses the underlying IP. Its architecture pairs Tensix AI cores with Ascalon RISC-V CPU cores, sold both as packaged silicon (accelerators/cards for AI inference and training) and as licensable IP that customers integrate into their own chips. This hybrid model — selling chips and licensing blueprints — is unusual for a chip startup and lets partners such as LG build on Tenstorrent's designs while Tenstorrent also ships its own accelerators; Samsung Foundry manufactures its next-generation AI chiplet. Tenstorrent raised over $693M in Series D funding at a $2B pre-money valuation (led by Samsung Securities and AFW Partners, with Bezos Expeditions and LG participation) and is led by CEO Jim Keller; founder Ljubisa Bajic stepped down in 2025.
Research mapping
Physical AI / AI Factory & Cloud Training Infrastructure (L1) / Component
Evidence boundary
Original analysis and independent corroboration remain under development. Commercial scale and durable technical advantage remain under review.
What makes it defensible
RISC-V-based AI accelerator architecture (Tensix AI cores + Ascalon CPU) sold as both silicon and licensable IP — a credible non-NVIDIA, open-ISA compute stack backed by Jim Keller's silicon pedigree.
Position in the stack: Compute/substrate layer for AI: supplies AI accelerators and CPU IP that hyperscalers and chipmakers can license or buy, positioned as an open-ISA alternative to proprietary AI silicon.
Who buys it
Named customers: LG
Founding team
Ljubisa Bajic — Founder (former CEO) — Founded Tenstorrent in 2016; led the company until stepping down in 2025
Milos Trajkovic — Co-founder — Co-founded Tenstorrent in 2016; leads systems engineering and foundational software
Ivan Hamer — Co-founder — Co-founded Tenstorrent in 2016
Jim Keller — CEO — Veteran silicon architect (DEC Alpha, AMD K7/K8/Zen, Apple A4/A5, Tesla Autopilot silicon, Intel); joined Tenstorrent in 2020/2021 and became CEO in 2025
SourceFinancing detail
- Last round
- $1.5B Series E (Oct 2026)
Investors: Samsung Securities, AFW Partners, Fidelity, Hyundai Motor Group, LG Electronics, Bezos Expeditions
Mapped funds and investors
Direct relationships supported by published evidence.
Reported holdings as-of
No sourced relationships mapped yet.
Disclosed investment history
No sourced relationships mapped yet.
Showing up to four relationships in each group. ETF weights describe the fund’s portfolio, not ownership of this company. Private investment history does not establish current ownership.
Evidence & media
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Jim Keller-Led Tenstorrent Raises Another $700M For AI Chips At $2B+ Valuation
What this source supports: Series D of ~$693M led by Samsung Securities and AFW Partners; valuation >$2B; Jeff Bezos among investors.
What it does not establish: Valuation basis (pre/post-money) unclear; no revenue or margin disclosure.
Source -
Jeff Bezos participates in AI chip startup Tenstorrent’s $693m funding round
What this source supports: SDxCentral: $693M Series D; ~$150M of customer contracts cited from a Bloomberg interview with CEO Jim Keller.
What it does not establish: Contract figure is management-stated, not audited; no named customers.
Source -
Tenstorrent Holdings Inc. — Form D (Notice of Exempt Offering of Securities)
What this source supports: SEC Form D filed 2026-09-09: $1,286,829,662 sold to 134 investors of a $1,416,015,946 offering; first sale 2026-08-26.
What it does not establish: Form D gives no valuation, share price, or use of proceeds.
Source -
Qualcomm's reported Tenstorrent talks value Jim Keller's AI chip team at $8B to $10B
What this source supports: Qualcomm reportedly in early talks to acquire Tenstorrent for $8-10B, per The Information (via Tom's Hardware).
What it does not establish: Unconfirmed talks; Reuters could not independently verify; no deal announced.
Source -
Tenstorrent and Smallest.ai Partner to Bring Production-Grade Voice AI On-Prem
What this source supports: Smallest.ai Lightning V2 TTS runs natively on Tenstorrent Galaxy Blackhole servers for on-prem voice agents with ~4x inference cost reduction.
What it does not establish: First-party performance claim; independent benchmarks pending.
Source -
Intel and Qualcomm Are Both Chasing Jim Keller's Chip Startup Tenstorrent
What this source supports: Summarises the Bloomberg report published Monday 2026-10-12: Intel and Qualcomm both in early talks; Tenstorrent has engaged banks; sale could value it at $5B+ (Tom's Hardware: $8-10B for Qualcomm); dual-track with a fresh funding round. Qualcomm deal talk dates back to 2026-09-18.
What it does not establish: Unconfirmed talks reported by unnamed sources; no deal, no price, no timeline. Intel's +8% share move is market reaction, not confirmation.
Source
Timeline
-
partnership
Vayavya Labs partnership - SystemC virtual platforms for RISC-V hardware/software development
Source -
Governance
Bloomberg: Intel AND Qualcomm both in early acquisition talks; dual-track sale/funding process
Source -
Product
Tenstorrent + Smallest.ai partner for on-prem voice-AI stack on Galaxy Blackhole
Source -
Governance
Qualcomm reportedly in early talks to acquire Tenstorrent for $8-10B (The Information)
Source -
Financing
Form D: $1,286,829,662 sold to 134 investors (offering $1.42B); date of first sale 2026-08-26
Source -
Financing
Series E — $1,180,000,000 total disclosed
Source