Cerebras Systems Soars with $1 Billion Funding Round, Valuing Company at $23 Billion
This week, Cerebras Systems, an AI chipmaker, made headlines by securing $1 billion in funding, significantly increasing its valuation to $23 billion. This represents a remarkable leap from its previous valuation of $8.1 billion just six months ago, positioning Cerebras as a formidable competitor to giants like Nvidia.
The funding round was spearheaded by Tiger Global, but a substantial portion came from Benchmark Capital, one of Cerebras’ early backers, which invested at least $225 million in this round, as revealed by sources close to the situation.
Benchmark Capital initially backed Cerebras in 2016 when it led the startup’s $27 million Series A funding. To continue supporting its investment strategy, the firm raised two specific vehicles named ‘Benchmark Infrastructure,’ aimed exclusively at funding Cerebras’ latest round, according to regulatory filings.
What differentiates Cerebras from its competitors is the innovative scale of its processors. The company’s flagship chip, known as the Wafer Scale Engine, unveiled in 2024, spans roughly 8.5 inches on each side and incorporates a staggering 4 trillion transistors within a single piece of silicon. This unique design utilizes nearly an entire 300-millimeter silicon wafer, unlike traditional chips that are typically much smaller, cut from these wafers.
This ingenious architecture allows for an incredible 900,000 specialized cores that operate simultaneously, streamlining AI calculations and eliminating the data-shuffling bottlenecks generally linked with conventional GPU clusters. Cerebras claims their system can execute AI inference tasks over 20 times faster than competing systems.
Recently, Cerebras has gained significant traction in the AI infrastructure race. Last month, the company entered into a multi-year agreement worth over $10 billion with OpenAI, committing to provide 750 megawatts of computing power. This collaboration, set to last until 2028, aims to enhance the speed of OpenAI’s responses for complex AI queries. Notably, OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman, is also an investor in Cerebras.
Cerebras asserts that its proprietary AI systems surpass Nvidia’s in terms of speed and efficiency. However, the path to a public offering has faced challenges, primarily due to its previous relationship with G42, a UAE-based AI firm that was responsible for a significant 87% of Cerebras’ revenue in the first half of 2024. G42’s historical connections with Chinese tech companies raised national security concerns, which led to a review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). This scrutiny delayed Cerebras’ IPO plans and forced the company to retract a prior filing in early 2025. By the end of last year, G42 was no longer listed as an investor, clearing a path for a fresh IPO attempt.
Now, Cerebras is gearing up for a public debut, with plans to file in the second quarter of 2026, as reported by Reuters.
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