Intel backs SambaNova's $350M bid to challenge GPUs in AI inference
The Register
February 24, 2026
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Intel has invested $350 million into SambaNova Systems, an AI infrastructure startup aiming to challenge Nvidia's dominance in AI inference with its fifth-generation Reconfigurable Dataflow Units (RDUs). The funding round includes contributions from notable investors like Vista Equity and Cambium Capital. Intel's strategic partnership with SambaNova will focus on developing RDUs that utilize Xeon CPUs, combining hardware and software co-design to offer an alternative to GPUs for generative AI tasks. This move comes as Intel seeks to regain its footing in the AI market after setbacks with its datacenter GPU and Gaudi product lines.
SambaNova's latest offering, the SN50 accelerator, is positioned to undercut Nvidia's B200 in both performance and cost. Designed for efficiency, the SN50 features a three-tier memory hierarchy that minimizes model swapping time and optimizes key-value cache offloading. While its specs may not match those of modern GPUs on paper—such as peak FLOPS or bandwidth—it excels in real-world scenarios by focusing on reducing data movement overhead through overlapping computation and communication.
The SN50 is expected to deliver 2.5x higher 16-bit floating-point performance and 5x higher FP8 performance compared to its predecessor, the SN40L. It boasts 432 MB of on-chip SRAM, 6
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Originally published on The Register on 2/24/2026