Intel has signed a term sheet to acquire AI chip startup SambaNova Systems, two sources with direct knowledge of the deal told WIRED.
The details of the term sheet are unknown. The agreement is non-binding, meaning the deal has not yet been finalized and can be terminated without penalty. It may take weeks or even months for regulatory approval, liability investigation and financial due diligence to be completed.
Intel's interest in acquiring the startup was first reported by Bloomberg in late October. The talks were at an early stage at the time. The report noted that SambaNova could sell for less than the $5 billion valuation the company said it reached in April 2021.
Notably, Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan is currently executive chairman of SambaNova Systems. Intel Capital, which is currently converting Intel into a standalone fund, has also invested in SambaNova Systems. Another investor in SambaNova, Japan's SoftBank Group, made a major investment in Intel earlier this year.
A SambaNova spokesperson declined to comment. Intel had not responded to requests for comment at the time of publication.
SambaNova Systems was founded in 2017 in Palo Alto, California, by Kunle Olukotun, Rodrigo Liang and Christopher Ré. Olukotun and Ré are professors at Stanford; Liang previously worked as an executive at Oracle. SambaNova Systems makes an AI chip platform for inference computing, a process in which large language models make predictions based on enormous amounts of data.
According to data from PitchBook, the startup had raised $1.14 billion in funding as of early 2025. In 2020, it raised $250 million from asset manager BlackRock, Intel Capital, venture capital firm GV and other investors, bringing the startup's valuation to $2.5 billion. The following year, SambaNova was valued at $5 billion after a massive $676 million funding round led by SoftBank's Vision Fund 2.
The startup's implied valuation has since fallen, with BlackRock reportedly cutting the value of its SambaNova shares by 17 percent in the past year, according to The Information. That likely made it a target for Intel, along with the fact that Intel lagged behind the rest of the chip industry in making AI chips.
After taking the top job earlier this year, Intel CEO Tan said he plans to bolster Intel's debt, divest the company's non-core assets and shift to AI-first strategies. The struggling chipmaker also received an $8.9 billion capital injection from the U.S. government in August, which it plans to use to expand domestic semiconductor production.
