This deal is interesting for a bunch of reasons. For one, SiFive's RISC-V open chip design is based on the RISC processor, not Intel's x86 or ARM, the two major types of CPUs that currently feed Nvidia's GPU computer system AI empire. Also, Nvidia was investor in this round, alongside a long list of VCs, private equity, and hedge funds. The round was led by Atreides Management, founded by former Fidelity investor bigwig Gavin Baker. (Atreides was also an investor in Cerebras Systems $1 billion round). Other investors in the round include Apollo Global Management, D1 Capital Partners, Point72 Turion, T. Rowe Price Sutter Hill Ventures, and others. SiFive's business model is like Arm's was in years gone by ' it licenses its chip designs to those who modify them for their own needs and does not sell the chips themselves. (In March, Arm changed its model when it launched the first-ever chip it manufactured, an AI chip, developed with Meta with customers including OpenAI, Cerebras, and...
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