AI semiconductor startup Rivos, backed by Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger, is advancing a funding round of up to $500 million to help it compete with chip giant NVIDIA. According to reports, if the funding succeeds, Rivos's total fundraising since its 2021 founding would approach $900 million, with the company's valuation exceeding $2 billion.

Sources familiar with the matter revealed that although the company has not yet achieved mass chip production, it plans to reach this milestone by 2026 and is expected to capture some market share from NVIDIA. Earlier this year, Rivos delivered prototype chips to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) for trial production.

The startup, headquartered in Santa Clara, California, focuses on designing graphics processing units (GPUs) for inference scenarios. Inference refers to running already-trained AI models, and by 2030, inference workloads are expected to account for 60% to 70% of all AI tasks. Rivos is attempting to build "RISC-V architecture-based server solutions that combine energy efficiency, high performance, and security."

Pat Gelsinger serves as a major investor in Rivos and holds the position of founding chairman. Last year, Rivos completed a $250 million funding round. At that time, Rivos co-founder and CEO Puneet Kumar stated: "For some smaller-scale deployment scenarios, from a cost perspective, NVIDIA's products may appear overly redundant, and these are precisely the markets we can target."

Kumar previously worked at a chip design company that was acquired by Apple. When he left to found Rivos in 2021, Apple sued the startup for stealing trade secrets. However, Rivos immediately filed a countersuit, accusing Apple of illegally threatening employees. The two companies reached a settlement in early 2024.

In terms of investment, Rivos has attracted support from major companies and investment institutions including Intel Capital, MediaTek, Dell Technologies, BlackRock, and Walden Catalyst. Board Chairman Pat Gelsinger continues to invest funds through the Walden Catalyst fund and is committed to helping Rivos establish a complete ecosystem centered on software-defined hardware to overcome the current challenge of RISC-V's relatively weak software environment.