# Qualcomm in talks to acquire Tenstorrent for up to $10 billion in AI chip play

> Qualcomm is reportedly in talks to buy Tenstorrent, the AI accelerator startup, at a valuation of eight to ten billion dollars. Neither side is confirming it, Tenstorrent declined to comment and Qualcomm said it does not respond to rumors, but the strategic logic is easy to read. Tenstorrent, founded in 2016, designs AI accelerators for both cloud and edge using the open RISC-V instruction set rather than proprietary architectures, and its Galaxy Blackhole platform reached general availability in April with independently verified performance. For Qualcomm, which exited the data center business back in 2018, an acquisition would be a fast way back in and a hedge against Nvidia's dominance, with RISC-V offering a licensing-free path that appeals to buyers wary of lock-in. If it closes, this is another sign that the AI hardware race is broadening beyond GPUs. The interesting players now are the startups betting on open standards and different accelerator designs, and the incumbents deciding it is cheaper to buy that expertise than to rebuild it.

_Section: [Daily AI Updates](https://www.wortins.com/daily-ai) · Source: Data Center Dynamics · Published Sunday, July 12, 2026_

## Wortins' read

Qualcomm is reportedly in talks to buy Tenstorrent, the AI accelerator startup, at a valuation of eight to ten billion dollars. Neither side is confirming it, Tenstorrent declined to comment and Qualcomm said it does not respond to rumors, but the strategic logic is easy to read. Tenstorrent, founded in 2016, designs AI accelerators for both cloud and edge using the open RISC-V instruction set rather than proprietary architectures, and its Galaxy Blackhole platform reached general availability in April with independently verified performance. For Qualcomm, which exited the data center business back in 2018, an acquisition would be a fast way back in and a hedge against Nvidia's dominance, with RISC-V offering a licensing-free path that appeals to buyers wary of lock-in. If it closes, this is another sign that the AI hardware race is broadening beyond GPUs. The interesting players now are the startups betting on open standards and different accelerator designs, and the incumbents deciding it is cheaper to buy that expertise than to rebuild it.

## Source

[Read the full story at Data Center Dynamics](https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/qualcomm-considers-acquiring-ai-chip-firm-tenstorrent/)

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