Cerebras raises $5.5B ahead of Nasdaq debut in landmark IPO

AI Chipmaker Cerebras Systems, a central partner in the UAE’s AI ambitions, has raised $5.5 billion ahead of its listing on the Nasdaq today, in the biggest IPO in the U.S. this year.

The California-based startup, which counts UAE tech investor G42 and Abu Dhabi’s Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence among its biggest customers, priced its shares at $185 each, valuing the company at about $40 billion.

G42, which is chaired by UAE National Security Advisor Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed, bought about 1% of Cerebras for $40 million in 2021, meaning it stands to reap a substantial paper windfall in the IPO.

Earlier this year, Cerebras made a $10 billion deal to supply Sam Altman’s OpenAI with more than 750 megawatts of computing power over three years.

G42 announces third supercomputer in bid to boost AI power

Abu Dhabi’s G42 shared its latest progress on building a network of nine supercomputers, a massive project first announced last year and undertaken in partnership with U.S. semiconductor startup Cerebras Systems.

The aim is to equip the UAE’s flagship artificial intelligence firm with access to some of the fastest and most efficient computing power in the world to train its large language models like Jais, an Arabic-and-English bilingual LLM and Med42, which is being deployed in healthcare. 

On Wednesday, G42 said it had broken ground on the third phase of its Condor Galaxy supercomputer network, this one located in Dallas, Tex.

The new high-performing hardware is powered by the industry’s fastest AI chip as Cerebras looks to compete with market-dominating chipmaker Nvidia. 

G42 also announced the commercial rollout of BoardNavigator, an AI technology developed with Microsoft as a corporate strategy and governance assistant.

The AI tool will analyze large proprietary and public data sets to support board members in their decision-making processes, the company said.

UAE conglomerate International Holding Co. (IHC), chaired by UAE National Security Advisor Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed – who also chairs G42 – is the first customer.