Cerebras is preparing to file for an IPO before Friday’s market close

Cerebras is set to file for an initial public offering (IPO) on Friday before the market closes, according to two people familiar with the matter who allegedly spoke to CNBC on condition of anonymity because the talks are private.

The company makes chips built to run artificial intelligence models, and it is now trying to sell investors on a business that has changed a lot from its earlier pitch.

Reportedly, Cerebras no longer just tries to sell hardware to outside companies. It also runs its own chips inside company-controlled data centers and sells that computing power as a cloud service. That shift matters because AI customers now want ready access to compute, not just boxes of silicon.

In January, Cerebras said it planned to provide as much as 750 megawatts of computing power to OpenAI through 2028 in a deal valued at more than $10 billion.

Cerebras expands cloud business as OpenAI deepens a multibillion-dollar tie-up

A report from The Information said OpenAI has now expanded that arrangement to more than $20 billion and will also receive warrants to buy Cerebras shares. The Information previously reported on that structure.

That detail links future demand for compute with a possible ownership stake, and also gives Cerebras a much stronger story to take into an IPO filing than it had last year.

OpenAI executive Sachin Katti described the reason his company is working with Cerebras in direct terms:

“OpenAI’s compute strategy is to build a resilient portfolio that matches the right systems to the right workloads. Cerebras adds a dedicated low-latency inference solution to our platform. That means faster responses, more natural interactions, and a stronger foundation to scale real-time AI to many more people.”

And there may be more business coming. On Oracle’s March earnings call, CEO Clay Magouyrk said the company offers chips from Cerebras and other suppliers. At that time, though, Oracle’s public price list did not show Cerebras.

For now, one known use case is already in place. Cerebras provides OpenAI with cloud-based compute to run a coding tool, and that is where Cerebras is trying to separate itself from the pack.

Most companies building and deploying generative AI still depend heavily on Nvidia GPUs. Advanced Micro Devices has also gained ground in AI infrastructure.

Cerebras has been winning business by pushing the speed of its very large processors, especially for inference work, where users ask questions and expect replies right away.

Since its first pitch in 2024, it has kept raising money. In February, Cerebras said it brought in $1 billion in financing at a $23 billion valuation.

Investors pour money into AI chip rivals while Intel’s stock surge resets the market mood

In the United States, MatX, Ayar Labs, and Etched each raised $500 million rounds in 2026. In Europe, the checks have been smaller, but still large. Axelera and Olix both raised more than $200 million this year.

Euclyd and Optalysys said they are planning rounds of at least $100 million in 2026, while reports say Fractile and Arago are doing the same.

On Wall Street today, Intel stock jumped to its highest intraday level since the dot-com era, hitting $69.55, above the peak it hit on Jan. 24, 2020. Intel is up 90% this year after a 84% rally YOY in 2025. The stock now sits roughly 8% below its all-time closing high of $74.88 from Aug. 31, 2000.

Over the same period, the S&P 500 has gained more than 100%. Back to Intel, in early April, the company agreed to pay $14.2 billion to buy back half of an Ireland plant from Apollo Global Management. After that, Intel said it would join Elon Musk’s Terafab project to develop semiconductors for Tesla, SpaceX, and xAI. That followed a commitment from Alphabet’s Google to use future generations of Intel Xeon processors in data centers.

Even so, Intel’s recommendation consensus stands at 3.15 out of five, the weakest among chipmakers, and the stock trades well above the average analyst target, a sign many think the move may have gone too far, too fast.

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