Nvidia Rival Positron Holds Talks to Raise Funds at $5 Billion Valuation

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AI chip startup Positron is in talks to raise about $750 million in financing during a round with two phases, part of a groundswell of companies looking to compete with Nvidia Corp.

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(Bloomberg) — AI chip startup Positron is in talks to raise about $750 million in financing during a round with two phases, part of a groundswell of companies looking to compete with Nvidia Corp.

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The first tranche of the round is expected to value the company at $3.5 billion, according to people familiar with the matter. The second phase could carry a valuation of around $5 billion, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the deliberations are private.

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Positron, which is developing energy-efficient inference chips for running artificial intelligence models, has already received multiple term sheets for the round, according to one of the people. If the funding is secured, the startup would see its valuation more than triple in just five months.

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Investor appetite for AI chip and infrastructure startups is growing. There’s particular interest in companies like Positron that handle inference — the stage where AI models are already trained and responding to real-world inputs.

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The deal discussions are the latest example of AI startups raising money in multiple phases in immediate succession, a sign of the ultracompetitive pressure that defines the current technology landscape. Still, the talks remain underway, and the terms could change. A representative for Reno, Nevada-based Positron declined to comment.

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Positron has a long list of investors, including Valor Equity Partners, Atreides Management and DFJ Growth. Other backers include Arm Holdings Plc and Qatar Investment Authority.

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This week, chip startup SambaNova Systems Inc. announced that it raised $1 billion at an $11 billion valuation. The deal talks came after Intel Corp. held discussions last year to acquire SambaNova at a lower valuation. Etched, another Nvidia rival, recently raised $800 million in funding and signed sales contracts worth $1 billion.

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Cerebras Systems Inc., which also makes chips for inference, had the year’s biggest initial public offering in May. But it has highlighted the challenges of navigating an uncertain market. After soaring as high as $311.07, Cerebras’ shares now trade below their IPO price. They closed at $181.72 on Wednesday.

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Nvidia, meanwhile, is working to ward off the fresh competition. It agreed to license inference chip technology from Groq in December that the company is weaving into its own products.

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