Nvidia just blessed a $3.65B chip startup to “open” your wallet

$3.65 billion — for a company selling the idea that chips should be “open.” That’s like valuing a vegan butcher shop at steakhouse money.

SiFive, the RISC‑V chip-design darling backed by Nvidia, just raised again and slapped a $3.65B valuation on itself, pitching “customizable” processor designs for AI workloads. Which sounds wholesome until you remember the AI boom is basically a money cannon aimed directly at whoever controls the silicon.

They’re selling an alternative to the usual chip monarchy: ARM licenses, Intel nostalgia, and whatever GPU kingdom Nvidia is currently annexing this week. SiFive’s pitch is modular processors built on RISC‑V, the open instruction set that’s supposed to let more companies design chips without paying tribute to the usual toll booths.

Nvidia backing this is the funniest part. The same Nvidia that currently has AI companies taking out second mortgages for GPUs is now funding the “open chip dream.” That’s not charity — that’s vertical integration with a halo.

If this works, more players can build specialized chips and maybe the GPU tax eases. If it doesn’t, congrats: we reinvented “open” as a marketing word you’ll see right before another invoice.