AI chip firm SambaNova Systems has secured $1 billion at an $11 billion valuation in the initial close of its Series F round led by General Atlantic with additional backers anticipated shortly.

"Over the coming weeks several more investors are set to participate and the second close should wrap up soon," Rodrigo Liang, CEO and co-founder of SambaNova, told TechCrunch.

The new financing arrives about five months after the Palo Alto California startup introduced its SN50 chip together with a $350 million Series E round in February. SambaNova had also engaged in acquisition discussions with Intel in a transaction valued at roughly $1.6 billion according to a December report from Bloomberg News.

When asked if completing its Series E and F rounds signaled that SambaNova founded in 2017 planned to remain independent Liang offered no firm commitment. He noted the company continues to attract attention. "We keep receiving approaches." The possibility of an exit remains open in the fast-moving AI sector the CEO observed yet current momentum points toward "going public at some point."

SambaNova's connections to Intel a supporter since its Series C and a participant in this round have grown stronger. Five months earlier the nine-year-old startup revealed a multi-year collaboration with Intel to advance AI inference using Intel's Xeon processors. The pair now jointly develop offerings and bring them to market. "This creates a strong tie that allows us to tap Intel's scale alongside our own technology," Liang said.

With the fresh capital SambaNova announced selection by JPMorganChase as an "inference-infrastructure partner" with its SN40L and SN50 systems chosen to drive secure on-premises AI inference at the bank.

"JPMorgan Chase opting for SambaNova as its inference solution represents a major step," Liang told TechCrunch. "It signals to the banking sector that full reliance on cloud services is no longer necessary. These institutions seek diverse infrastructure."

Liang described the JPMorgan win as a broader market indicator. Banks "on the level of JP Morgan" are now establishing private secure setups to run inference on sensitive models he noted an approach likely to extend past banking. Enterprises and governments are "just beginning their AI path" Liang added with most expansion so far limited to tech model builders and frontier labs leaving what he termed "substantial revenue" ahead.

SambaNova introduced its SN40L in September 2023 offered via cloud and on-premises from November 2023. Its next-generation SN50 unveiled in February 2026 is scheduled to ship to customers in the second half of 2026 with SoftBank as the initial deployment partner Liang stated.

Liang highlighted SambaNova's strength in "premium inference" for the largest models at high speed. Current frontier models reach trillions of parameters and he noted SambaNova was designed specifically for that scale. The company fits multi-trillion-parameter models onto a single rack enabling faster execution.

SambaNova targets three customer segments. The first covers sovereign clouds where governments back local partners to create private clouds an area Liang expects SambaNova to play a key role. The second involves neoclouds. The third consists of enterprises developing infrastructure for internal use. Beyond JPMorgan the company lists Saudi Aramco Intel and additional Japanese firms among its clients.

SambaNova intends to apply the funds to expand operations and reinforce its supply chain amid what Liang described as an extraordinary surge in demand. "We are deploying this capital to lock in the supply chain," he said calling it vital for meeting orders and obtaining materials needed over the next 12 months.

Other participants in the round include Seligman Ventures T. Rowe Price Associates and Capital Group. Fresh and returning investors also joined such as A&E Investment Assam Ventures Battery Ventures Cambium Capital BlackRock Kabila Capital QFO Capital Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) Vista Equity Partners and Volantis.