AI chip firm Cerebras raises $1.1 billion, adds Trump-linked 1789 Capital as investor

By Stephen Nellis SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) -Cerebras Systems, a Silicon Valley startup aiming to take on Nvidia by producing a dinner-plate-sized AI computing chip, on Tuesday said it raised $1.1 billion and added 1789 Capital, the venture firm where Donald Trump Jr. is a partner, as an investor. Cerebras said the funding round, which was led by Fidelity Management & Research Co and Atreides Management, brings the company's valuation to $8.1 billion. The deal added investors Tiger Global, Valor Equity Partners and 1789 Capital, the fund where President Donald Trump's son is a partner. Cerebras CEO Andrew Feldman told Reuters in an interview that 1789's involvement was led by Paul Abrahimzadeh, an investment banker and veteran of Citigroup, which Cerebras had previously tapped to lead an initial public offering. "They're putting a lot of money to work. And it was somebody we knew," Feldman said . Cerebras last year filed for an initial public offering on Nasdaq. The offering was delayed by U.S. national security review of a $335 million investment by G42, an Abu Dhabi-based cloud computing and AI company. Cerebras said in March that the investment by G42, which in 2023 signed a deal to source supercomputers from the startup, had received clearance from the Trump administration. Feldman said the company still plans to hold a public offering.  "It is very common in your path to an IPO to gather some additional capital very late in the game from world-class institutional investors," Feldman said.  The computers Cerebras built for G42 have so far been in the United States. Last year, the company announced an agreement to supply computers to Aramco, the Saudi oil giant. Middle East deals will require export licenses from the Trump administration. "We hold the license for the delivery of some equipment, and we're seeking the license for the ability to ship more equipment," Feldman said. Citigroup and Barclays Capital acted as joint placement agents for the transaction, and existing investors Altimeter, Alphawave and Benchmark joined the round, Cerebras said. (Reporting by Stephen Nellis in San Francisco; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

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