【AI前沿】Premium Multiple to Secure at All Costs, Qualcomm Is Negotiating a Potential Up to $10 Billion Acquisition of an AI Chip Startup

AI NEWSLatest AI NewsArticlePremium Multiple to Secure at All Costs, Qualcomm Is Negotiating a Potential Up to $10 Billion Acquisition of an AI Chip StartupPublished in Latest AI NewsTime :Jun 16, 2026Read :3minuteAccording to overseas well-known media, global chip giant Qualcomm is currently conducting a major acquisition negotiation, targeting the star startup in the field of artificial intelligence chip design, Tenstorrent. If this potential transaction is finally completed, it will become a focal point in the semiconductor industry in recent years.Substantial Premium Demonstrates DeterminationAccording to insiders, Qualcomm has offered extremely favorable terms for this acquisition, with the proposed acquisition price range estimated between 8 billion and 10 billion US dollars. Compared to Tenstorrent’s valuation of about 2.6 billion US dollars at the end of last year during its Series D financing, Qualcomm’s offer represents a significant multiple premium.Although past semiconductor startup acquisition deals usually include performance-linked floating payment terms, it is currently unclear whether this transaction includes such conditions. The negotiations between the two parties are still ongoing, and the final transaction amount may still change, with the possibility of the deal falling apart.Chip Industry Legend Leads to AttentionFounded in 2016, Tenstorrent has gained widespread attention in the industry, mainly because it develops accelerator chips for AI model training and application inference, and is led by the legendary chip designer Jim Keller. This industry expert was previously responsible for the design of Apple chips and the development of Tesla’s autonomous driving chips.