NVIDIA-rival Cerebras files for an IPO in the US
What's the story
Cerebras Systems, a leading player in the AI chip industry and competitor to NVIDIA, has filed for an initial public offering (IPO) in the US. The move comes as part of a broader trend of optimism in the tech sector after a brief slowdown last month. This is Cerebras's second attempt at going public after its first was withdrawn last October, following a more than $1 billion fundraise that valued it at around $8 billion.
Innovation
Cerebras's chips and OpenAI's reliance on them
Cerebras is taking on NVIDIA with a novel kind of AI chip that doesn't rely on high-bandwidth memory, a major bottleneck in the industry. The company specializes in inference, the process of responding to user queries. Much of its growth has been linked to OpenAI, including a $20 billion multi-year deal where the ChatGPT creator will use 750MW of Cerebras chips.
Revenue growth
Revenue and profit numbers
Cerebras's revenue surged to $510 million in the year ending December 31, from $290.3 million a year earlier. The firm also posted a profit of $1.38 per share, reversing from a loss of $9.90 per share last year. Despite these numbers, Cerebras has not revealed how much it hopes to raise through its IPO which is expected in mid-May under the ticker symbol "CBRS."
Past challenges
Previous IPO filing retraction explained
Cerebras had first filed for an IPO with the US Securities and Exchange Commission in 2024, but it was postponed and withdrawn last year. The delay was reportedly due to a US national security review of UAE-based tech conglomerate G42's minority stake in the AI chipmaker. G42, which was both an investor and one of Cerebras's largest customers, faced increased scrutiny from US authorities over concerns that Middle Eastern firms could give China access to advanced American AI technology.