Tenstorrent, based in Toronto and led by chip architect Jim Keller, designs RISC-V based AI processors sold as Blackhole cards, QuietBox workstations and Galaxy servers. It raised $1.5 billion at a $6.2 billion valuation in October 2026.
At a glance
| Price from | From $1,399 |
| Best for | Developers who want open, buyable AI hardware |
From Tenstorrent's own website.
What stands out
- Open-source software stack
- Cards sold directly at public prices
Worth knowing
- Software less mature than CUDA
- Much smaller scale than the chip giants
How it ranks
Tenstorrent is ranked 3rd of 10 in Best AI Chip Startups (Lister Score 94.4).
#3 in Best AI Chip Startups · Lister Score 94.4
Tenstorrent, founded in 2016 in Toronto and led by chip architect Jim Keller, sells Wormhole and Blackhole AI accelerator cards and licenses its RISC-V CPU and Tensix AI cores to other chip designers. It raised a $1.5 billion Series E at a $6.2 billion valuation on 19 October 2026.
Tenstorrent says it licenses its TT-Ascalon RISC-V CPU and Tensix AI cores to chip designers including Samsung and LG..
| Rank | Best AI Chip Startups | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | SambaNova Systems | 96.8 |
| 2 | Etched | 95.6 |
| 3 | Tenstorrent | 94.4 |
| 4 | Positron AI | 93.1 |
| 5 | MatX | 91.9 |
| 6 | Rebellions | 90.6 |
| 7 | Lightmatter | 89.3 |
| 8 | d-Matrix | 88.0 |
| 9 | FuriosaAI | 86.7 |
| 10 | Axelera AI | 85.4 |
Frequently asked questions
How does Tenstorrent rank on Lister?
Tenstorrent is ranked 3rd of 10 in Best AI Chip Startups (Lister Score 94.4).
Appears in
- #10 in Best AI Chip Companies · Deep Tech
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