MoneyThe story, in brief

Nvidia-backed SiFive hits $3.65 billion valuation for open AI chips

$3.65B. That's SiFive's new valuation—and it signals a major shift in AI chip architecture away from x86 and ARM.

Paper-cut illustration of amber paths carrying capital toward a small coral research venture between larger buildings.
Capital and the next generation of AI ventures.AI illustration by KeyNews
The KeyNews take

Why it matters

SiFive's funding round validates RISC-V as a viable alternative architecture for AI workloads, potentially disrupting Nvidia's chip ecosystem dominance and opening new pathways for open-source AI infrastructure.

The key facts

4 to know
  1. SiFive achieves $3.65B valuation

  2. RISC-V-based chip designs (non-x86, non-ARM architecture)

  3. Nvidia backing signals strategic bet on open chip standards

  4. Positioned for open AI chip market

Go to the source

TechCrunch Venturetechcrunch.com

Publisher excerpt: The deal is interesting for a number of reasons, including that SiFive's chip designs are based on RISC-V, not x86 or ARM.
Read original report
Back to today's editionMore money news

The wider picture

View all
Paper-cut illustration of amber paths carrying capital toward a small coral research venture between larger buildings.
AI illustration by KeyNews
Money01

Ema raises $77M as AI starts eating into enterprise software and services

Enterprise agent adoption is moving past pilots into production deployments. A capital raise this size signals that agentic systems are becoming a category worth betting on — and that traditional enterprise software vendors face real displacement.

TechCrunch Startups
Paper-cut illustration of amber paths carrying capital toward a small coral research venture between larger buildings.
AI illustration by KeyNews
Money02

Jumbo-Sized Series A Rounds Are On The Rise

Large early-stage funding rounds are surging in 2026, signaling where venture capital is betting on AI infrastructure and autonomy. Practitioners budgeting for competitive positioning and market consolidation need to track which categories are attracting megadeals.

Crunchbase News
Paper-cut illustration of amber paths carrying capital toward a small coral research venture between larger buildings.
AI illustration by KeyNews
Money03

Nvidia-backed Nscale buried ByteDance deal in push to $35bn IPO

A major AI infrastructure company is burying its largest revenue relationship ahead of a public market debut, revealing how U.S.-China tensions are forcing restructuring of the AI compute supply chain and how IPO narratives now actively obscure geopolitical exposure.

Financial Times Technology