Cerebras Systems is rapidly emerging as one of the most formidable challengers to Nvidia in the AI chip market, and investors are taking notice. This week, the Sunnyvale-based startup announced it raised $1 billion in fresh funding at a $23 billion valuation nearly tripling its valuation from just six months ago. The round was led by Tiger Global, but a major portion came from one of Cerebras’ earliest believers: Benchmark Capital.
Benchmark reportedly invested at least $225 million into the round, a massive commitment given the firm’s traditionally small fund sizes, which usually stay under $450 million. To support the Cerebras investment, Benchmark raised two special-purpose funds, both labeled “Benchmark Infrastructure,” according to regulatory filings. Benchmark originally backed Cerebras in 2016, leading its $27 million Series A, and this latest move signals rare long-term conviction in the company’s technology and market potential.
What truly sets Cerebras apart is its unconventional approach to chip design. Instead of producing small processors cut from silicon wafers, Cerebras uses nearly the entire wafer to build a single massive chip. Its flagship Wafer Scale Engine, unveiled in 2024, measures about 8.5 inches per side and packs an astonishing 4 trillion transistors into one piece of silicon.
This architecture enables 900,000 specialized AI cores to work in parallel, reducing the need for data to bounce between multiple chips a major bottleneck in conventional GPU clusters. According to Cerebras, this design allows AI inference workloads to run more than 20 times faster than competing systems.
The timing of the funding is critical. Cerebras is gaining momentum in the AI infrastructure race and recently signed a multi-year deal worth over $10 billion to supply OpenAI with 750 megawatts of computing power through 2028. The partnership is designed to support faster and more efficient AI responses, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is also an investor in the company a strong endorsement of its technology.
Cerebras’ journey toward an IPO, however, has not been smooth. Its close ties to G42, a UAE-based AI firm that once accounted for 87% of its revenue, triggered a U.S. national security review and delayed its public listing plans. After G42 was removed from Cerebras’ investor roster late last year, the company is now positioned for a fresh IPO attempt.
With massive funding, breakthrough chip architecture, and high-profile customers, Cerebras is increasingly seen as a serious contender in reshaping the future of AI computing.
