Qualcomm has entered talks to acquire AI chip startup Tenstorrent for up to $10 billion. Reported on June 16, 2026, the talks value the deal between $8 billion and $10 billion, and Tenstorrent, founded in 2016 by Jim Keller, has challenged NVIDIA with a RISC-V approach. It is a sign that AI hardware competition is widening beyond NVIDIA. ASAP summarizes the result.

What is on the table

Qualcomm is pursuing Tenstorrent to build its AI chip capabilities. The talks reported on June 16, 2026 value the deal between $8 billion and $10 billion. It is a move to shift weight beyond mobile chips into AI and data centers.

Who Tenstorrent is

Tenstorrent is the company legendary chip designer Jim Keller founded in 2016. It has challenged NVIDIA's dominance with efficient, RISC-V-based AI chip designs. The open instruction set takes a different path from NVIDIA's closed ecosystem.

Why NVIDIA's blind spot

The acquisition is aimed at an area NVIDIA dominates less, outside its core. NVIDIA's strength is GPUs locked into the CUDA ecosystem, while RISC-V-based designs are an alternative outside that lock-in. Qualcomm wants to push capital into that gap.

Not done yet

The talks are ongoing and the final terms are not set. Details such as the performance-linked payment structures common in chip deals remain, and the price could change or the deal could fall apart. Qualcomm earlier acquired Alphawave for $2.4 billion.

What it means — a widening AI hardware front

The talks show AI chip competition hardening into NVIDIA versus the rest. As a giant like Qualcomm bets on a RISC-V challenger, the hardware front widens. It runs in the same direction as the AI race's variable moving from the model to the chip.

Wrap-up

Qualcomm is in talks to acquire Tenstorrent for up to $10 billion. It is a bet on Jim Keller's RISC-V chips to hit NVIDIA's blind spot. It is not final, but it is a clear sign that AI hardware competition is widening beyond NVIDIA.

Source: ASAP summary of reporting (June 16, 2026; Qualcomm's talks to acquire Tenstorrent, $8 billion to $10 billion) by Reuters, The Information, and others.