Qualcomm is in advanced negotiations to acquire Tenstorrent, an AI chip startup led by veteran designer Jim Keller, in a deal valued between $8 billion and $10 billion, according to The Information. Tenstorrent designs RISC-V-based AI accelerators aimed at running specific workloads more efficiently than general-purpose GPUs. The talks are ongoing with no certainty a deal will close, though the acquisition would align with Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon's push into data center and AI infrastructure beyond smartphones.
Tenstorrent's Galaxy Blackhole AI compute platform packs 32 of its Blackhole accelerators (each with 768 RISC-V cores) into a 6U enclosure. The acquisition would give Qualcomm direct access to RISC-V IP and reduce its dependence on Arm licensing for infrastructure and server applications. Qualcomm is preparing to discuss its broader data center strategy at its June 24 Investor Day, including AI100 Ultra chips and partnerships with AWS, ByteDance, and others. The company previously acquired Alphawave Semi for $2.4 billion in 2024.
For infrastructure builders, a Qualcomm-Tenstorrent combination would create a new RISC-V alternative to Arm and GPU-dominant AI chip markets. Architects shipping large-scale AI systems care because open RISC-V architecture reduces licensing constraints and vendor lock-in compared to proprietary designs, though integration risk remains high given Qualcomm's mixed track record integrating chip acquisitions and competing with entrenched Nvidia and AMD in data center.