Nvidia-backed SiFive raises $400M at a $3.65B valuation to bring its open-source RISC-V chip designs into AI data centers

SiFive, a chip design company founded by UC Berkeley engineers behind the open-source RISC-V processor architecture, raised a $400M oversubscribed round led by Atreides Management at a $3.65B valuation, with Nvidia participating alongside Apollo Global Management, D1 Capital Partners, and T. Rowe Price among others. Unlike Intel's x86 or Arm architectures, SiFive's RISC-V designs are open and hardware-neutral, and the company licenses its designs rather than manufacturing chips itself. SiFive's designs will work with Nvidia's CUDA software and NVLink Fusion rack server system, positioning it as an alternative CPU supplier for AI data centers at a moment when Intel and AMD are competing for the same ground.