SambaNova raises $1B at $11B valuation, names JPMorgan as key inference partner

AI chip startup SambaNova Systems has raised $1 billion in a Series F funding round at an $11 billion valuation, led by General Atlantic, with additional investors expected to join in a second close. The Palo Alto-based company also announced that JPMorgan Chase has selected it as an “inference-infrastructure partner,” deploying its SN40L and SN50 systems for secure, on-premises AI inference.

Fast follow-on funding amid surging demand

The latest round comes roughly five months after SambaNova closed a $350 million Series E in February 2026, which coincided with the unveiling of its next-generation SN50 chip. CEO and co-founder Rodrigo Liang told Bitcoin World that the company is using the fresh capital primarily to secure its supply chain against what he described as an “incredible wave of demand.” The company expects the SN50 to begin shipping to customers in the second half of 2026, with SoftBank as its first deployment partner.

Other investors in the round include Seligman Ventures, T. Rowe Price Associates, Capital Group, BlackRock, the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), and Vista Equity Partners, among others. Intel, a backer since SambaNova’s Series C, also participated.

JPMorgan win signals shift in enterprise AI strategy

The JPMorgan partnership marks a notable validation for SambaNova’s go-to-market strategy. The bank will use SambaNova systems for on-premises inference, a move Liang said sends a message to the broader financial industry about reducing dependence on public cloud providers. “Having JPMorgan Chase decide they’re going to use SambaNova for their inference solution is a big deal,” Liang said. “It sends a message to the banking industry that it’s time not to completely depend on cloud services. These banks want heterogeneous infrastructure.”

Liang noted that enterprises and governments are “just starting their AI journey,” with most growth so far concentrated among frontier model makers and tech labs. He sees a “huge amount of revenue” still untapped in sectors like banking, energy, and sovereign clouds.

Deepening ties with Intel

Five months ago, SambaNova announced a multi-year partnership with Intel to co-develop and co-market AI inference solutions based on Intel’s Xeon processors. The relationship has deepened since then. “That gives us a great relationship with them that lets us leverage the scale of Intel with the technology we have,” Liang said. Intel had previously been reported to be in acquisition talks with SambaNova, with a deal valued at roughly $1.6 billion, according to a December 2025 Bloomberg report. Liang was noncommittal about the company’s long-term independence, saying the door remains open to an exit but that momentum and growth will most likely drive the company toward “being public at some point.”

Why this matters for the AI chip market

SambaNova positions itself as a “premium inference” provider, designed to run multi-trillion-parameter models on a single rack for speed and efficiency. Its customer base spans three categories: sovereign clouds (government-funded private clouds), neoclouds, and large enterprises building for their own use. In addition to JPMorgan, the company counts Saudi Aramco, Intel, and several Japanese firms as customers.

The funding round and JPMorgan win come at a time when enterprises are increasingly seeking alternatives to public cloud providers for sensitive AI workloads. SambaNova’s ability to offer on-premises inference at scale could give it a distinct advantage as regulatory pressure around data sovereignty and security intensifies globally.

Conclusion

SambaNova’s $1 billion raise and high-profile enterprise partnerships reflect a maturing AI chip market where specialized inference hardware is becoming a strategic priority for large institutions. With a strengthened balance sheet and deepening ties to Intel and JPMorgan, the company is positioning itself as a key player in the next phase of enterprise AI adoption.

FAQs

Q1: What is SambaNova’s core technology?
SambaNova builds specialized AI chips and systems designed for high-speed inference of large language models, capable of running multi-trillion-parameter models on a single rack.

Q2: Why is JPMorgan using SambaNova instead of cloud providers?
JPMorgan is deploying SambaNova systems for on-premises inference to maintain control over sensitive data and reduce reliance on public cloud infrastructure, a trend Liang expects to grow across banking and other regulated industries.

Q3: How does SambaNova’s relationship with Intel work?
Intel is an investor and partner, co-developing AI inference solutions based on Intel’s Xeon processors. The two companies also take products to market together, leveraging Intel’s scale and SambaNova’s chip technology.