The SambaNova SN50 chip was introduced on February 25, 2026, claiming a maximum speed five times faster than competing chips. The company also announced a multi-year collaboration with Intel and secured over $350 million in Series E financing led by Vista Equity Partners and Cambium Capital.
The SambaNova SN50 chip targets agentic AI workloads with a total cost of ownership three times lower than GPU-based solutions, according to the company. SoftBank Corp. will deploy the chip in its next-generation AI data centers in Japan later this year.
Performance and Architecture Specifications
The SN50 delivers five times more compute per accelerator and four times more network bandwidth compared to the previous generation. Moreover, it connects up to 256 accelerators over a multi-terabyte-per-second interconnect, reducing time-to-first-token and supporting larger batch sizes.
Built on SambaNova’s Reconfigurable Data Unit (RDU) architecture, the chip features a three-tier memory system that supports models exceeding 10 trillion parameters and context lengths beyond 10 million tokens. The architecture enables resident multi-model memory and agentic caching to optimize infrastructure costs.
“AI is no longer a contest to build the biggest model. With the SN50 and our deep collaboration with Intel, the real race is about who can light up entire data centers with AI agents that answer instantly, never stall, and do it at a cost that turns AI from an experiment into the most profitable engine in the cloud.”
Rodrigo Liang, Co-founder and CEO, SambaNova
Intel Collaboration and Cloud Expansion
SambaNova and Intel entered a planned multi-year strategic collaboration to deliver AI inference solutions for enterprises and government organizations. Intel plans to make a strategic investment in SambaNova to accelerate the rollout of an Intel-powered AI cloud built on Xeon-based infrastructure.
The collaboration spans three areas: scaling SambaNova’s vertically integrated AI cloud, integrating SambaNova systems with Intel CPUs and networking technologies, and joint go-to-market execution through Intel’s global channels. The companies aim to address a multi-billion-dollar inference market opportunity.
“By combining Intel’s leadership in compute, networking, and memory with SambaNova’s full-stack AI systems and inference cloud platform, we are delivering a compelling option for organizations looking for GPU alternatives to deploy advanced AI at scale.”
Kevork Kechichian, EVP and General Manager, Data Center Group, Intel
SoftBank Deployment in Japan
SoftBank Corp. will be the first customer to deploy the SambaNova SN50 chip within its next-generation AI data centers in Japan. The deployment will power low-latency inference services for sovereign and enterprise customers across Asia-Pacific, supporting both open-source and proprietary frontier models.
The deployment deepens SambaNova’s existing relationship with SoftBank Corp., which already hosts SambaCloud to provide inference services for developers in the region. Consequently, SoftBank positions SambaNova as the inference backbone for its sovereign AI initiatives.
Series E Financing and Investor Participation
The oversubscribed Series E round raised over $350 million, led by Vista Equity Partners and Cambium Capital with participation from Intel Capital. New investors include Assam Ventures, Battery Ventures, Gulf Development Public Company Limited, Mayfield Capital, Saudi First Data, Seligman Ventures, and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc.
Sharaf Al Hariri, Chairman of First Data, stated that SambaNova forms a core part of First Data’s investment strategy to bring advanced AI technologies to Saudi Arabia and the wider Middle East region. The company emphasized the chip’s low power requirements and ability to operate efficiently within existing air-cooled data center environments.
Proceeds will be used to expand SN50 production, scale SambaCloud, and deepen enterprise software integrations. The company reported record bookings and revenue as it closed out 2025, reflecting accelerating demand across financial services, telecommunications, energy, and sovereign deployments worldwide.
Market Positioning and Future Outlook
Peter Rutten, Research Vice-President Performance Intensive Computing at IDC, stated that the SN50 changes the tokenomics of AI inference at scale by delivering high performance and throughput with a chip that uses existing power and is air cooled. The chip is scheduled to ship to customers later in 2026.
SambaNova, founded in 2017 and headquartered in San Jose, California, provides chips, systems, and cloud services for AI inference. The company serves enterprises, NeoClouds, AI labs, service providers, and sovereign AI initiatives globally.