By Sean Silcoff,Joe Castaldo
Publication Date: 2026-10-19 12:00:00
Tenstorrent says its Galaxy-branded technology is equipped to run large language models that power chatbots and agents and for generating AI video.Supplied
Artificial intelligence semi-conductor maker Tenstorrent Holdings Inc. has raised US$1.5-billion in fresh capital as it steps up efforts to challenge industry behemoth Nvidia Corp NVDA-Q.
The financing, which values Tenstorrent at US$6.2-billion, including the money raised, follows reports earlier this year that U.S. chip stalwarts Intel Corp. INTC-Q and Qualcomm Inc. QCOM-Q had both tried to buy Tenstorrent for upward of US$5-billion.
The Austin, Tex.-based company was founded in Toronto 10 years ago but relocated to the United States in 2023 after its first investor, Jim Keller – one of Silicon Valley’s top chip architects – became chief executive officer. The company’s Toronto office is still one of its largest hubs, where 200 of its 1,000 employees work. Tenstorrent also has operations in Silicon Valley; Tokyo; Belgrade, Serbia; and Bangalore, India.
The deal was led by two American private capital firms, Los Angeles-based Trace Capital, founded by National Football League linebacker-turned-private capital investor Ben Mahdavi, and Innovation X LLC of New York. Other backers in the deal include Agostinelli Group, Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest, Cadence Venture Capital, Maverick Silicon, Eclipse Venture Equity, Protagonist Management LLC, Fidelity Management & Research Co., Morgan…
