OpenAI’s cozy partner Cerebras is on track for a blockbuster IPO
OpenAI’s cozy partner Cerebras is on track for a blockbuster IPO
OpenAI 的亲密合作伙伴 Cerebras 即将迎来重磅 IPO
In the long-running saga that is Cerebras Systems’ IPO, the finish line is finally in sight. The AI chipmaker said on Monday that it is preparing to sell 28 million shares at $115 to $125 a share. This would raise $3.5 billion and give it a $26.6 billion market cap at the high end. That would be a nice bump in just a couple of months for the late investors who piled into its $1 billion Series H at a $23 billion valuation in February. It would also be a boon to OpenAI and a few of its executives. Should Cerebras pull off an initial public offering at or above the high end, this will be the largest tech IPO of 2026 so far. It could also prove the appetite for even bigger blockbuster offerings in the wings, like SpaceX and possibly OpenAI and Anthropic.
在 Cerebras Systems 漫长的 IPO 历程中，终点线终于近在咫尺。这家人工智能芯片制造商周一表示，正准备以每股 115 美元至 125 美元的价格出售 2800 万股股票。这将筹集 35 亿美元资金，按上限计算，其市值将达到 266 亿美元。对于二月份以 230 亿美元估值参与其 10 亿美元 H 轮融资的后期投资者来说，这在短短几个月内将是一笔不错的收益。这也将使 OpenAI 及其几位高管受益匪浅。如果 Cerebras 能以等于或高于上限的价格成功上市，这将是 2026 年迄今为止规模最大的科技 IPO。这也可能证明市场对 SpaceX 以及可能的 OpenAI 和 Anthropic 等后续更大规模重磅 IPO 的胃口。
Cerebras offers an AI-specific chip called the Wafer-Scale Engine 3 that challenges GPU-based AI chips. Cerebras says its chip is faster for inference while using less power than such competitors. Inference is the compute needed to process user prompts.
Cerebras 提供一种名为 Wafer-Scale Engine 3 的人工智能专用芯片，旨在挑战基于 GPU 的人工智能芯片。Cerebras 声称，与竞争对手相比，其芯片在推理方面速度更快，且功耗更低。推理是指处理用户提示词所需的计算过程。
A long list of top-name investors stands to gain from a healthy IPO. Rick Gerson’s Alpha Wave; Benchmark (via partner Eric Vishria); Lior Susan’s Eclipse; Fidelity; and Foundation Capital (via partner Steve Vassallo) are its largest shareholders with more than a 5% stake, according to the company’s SEC filing. The company says its list of investors also includes 1789 Capital, Abu Dhabi Growth Fund, Abu Dhabi’s G42, Alpha Wave Global, Altimeter, AMD, Atreides Management, Coatue, Moore Strategic Ventures, Tiger Global, Valor Equity Partners, and VY Capital. Plus, Cerebras names on its website a long list of angel investors, too. These include OpenAI founder and CEO Sam Altman, OpenAI founder and president Greg Brockman, former OpenAI chief scientist (now founder of his own AI startup) Ilya Sutskever, OpenAI board member and Quora CEO Adam D’Angelo, Sun Microsystems and Arista co-founder Andy Bechtolsheim, Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan, and several other tech luminaries.
根据公司向美国证券交易委员会（SEC）提交的文件，众多知名投资者将从此次健康的 IPO 中获益。Rick Gerson 的 Alpha Wave、Benchmark（通过合伙人 Eric Vishria）、Lior Susan 的 Eclipse、富达投资（Fidelity）以及 Foundation Capital（通过合伙人 Steve Vassallo）是其持股超过 5% 的最大股东。该公司表示，其投资者名单还包括 1789 Capital、阿布扎比增长基金（Abu Dhabi Growth Fund）、阿布扎比的 G42、Alpha Wave Global、Altimeter、AMD、Atreides Management、Coatue、Moore Strategic Ventures、老虎环球基金（Tiger Global）、Valor Equity Partners 和 VY Capital。此外，Cerebras 还在其网站上列出了一长串天使投资人名单，其中包括 OpenAI 创始人兼首席执行官 Sam Altman、OpenAI 创始人兼总裁 Greg Brockman、前 OpenAI 首席科学家（现为自己 AI 初创公司创始人）Ilya Sutskever、OpenAI 董事会成员兼 Quora 首席执行官 Adam D’Angelo、Sun Microsystems 和 Arista 联合创始人 Andy Bechtolsheim、英特尔首席执行官 Lip-Bu Tan 以及其他几位科技界名流。
While Sam Altman’s stake wasn’t large enough to disclose in the SEC filings, he was quoted in its S-1. That’s because Cerebras’ relationship with OpenAI is even more noteworthy than its angel investors. This relationship was even presented as evidence by Elon Musk in his lawsuit with OpenAI. OpenAI had at one point considered acquiring Cerebras, according to legal filings by Musk’s attorneys that claim he was unaware of all of the OpenAI execs’ personal investments in the company. That deal never happened, but OpenAI did become one of Cerebras’ largest customers. In fact, in December, OpenAI loaned Cerebras $1 billion, secured by warrants that allow OpenAI to buy over 33 million shares, the S-1 discloses. So while OpenAI is not a large shareholder now, it could become one.
虽然 Sam Altman 的持股比例未达到 SEC 文件的披露标准，但他出现在了公司的 S-1 招股书中。这是因为 Cerebras 与 OpenAI 的关系比其天使投资人更值得关注。埃隆·马斯克在与 OpenAI 的诉讼中甚至将这种关系作为证据提出。根据马斯克律师提交的法律文件，OpenAI 曾一度考虑收购 Cerebras，并声称马斯克当时并不知晓所有 OpenAI 高管对该公司的个人投资。这笔交易最终未能达成，但 OpenAI 确实成为了 Cerebras 最大的客户之一。事实上，S-1 文件披露，去年 12 月，OpenAI 向 Cerebras 提供了 10 亿美元贷款，并以认股权证作为抵押，允许 OpenAI 购买超过 3300 万股股票。因此，虽然 OpenAI 目前还不是大股东，但未来有可能成为大股东。
Cerebras had hoped to go public in 2024 but was delayed due to a federal review of an investment from Abu Dhabi-based cloud provider G42, which was (and still is, the chip company says) a major customer. That IPO attempt was ultimately shelved. A year later, Cerebras sought to raise more cash. In September, it raised $1.1 billion at an $8.1 billion post-money valuation led by Fidelity and Atreides. A few months later, Cerebras signed its new multi-year agreement worth more than $10 billion with OpenAI that included the loan and warrants. In February, it raised the $1 billion Series H, its last mega round.
Cerebras 原本希望在 2024 年上市，但由于联邦政府对来自阿布扎比云服务提供商 G42 的投资进行了审查而推迟。G42 曾是（据芯片公司称现在仍是）其主要客户。那次 IPO 尝试最终被搁置。一年后，Cerebras 寻求筹集更多资金。9 月，在富达投资和 Atreides 的领投下，公司以 81 亿美元的投后估值筹集了 11 亿美元。几个月后，Cerebras 与 OpenAI 签署了一份价值超过 100 亿美元的新多年期协议，其中包括上述贷款和认股权证。2 月份，公司完成了 10 亿美元的 H 轮融资，这是其最后一次大规模融资。
Should investors eat up the IPO, then OpenAI and its executives stand to gain in more ways than one. That seems likely. Banks are already fielding $10 billion worth of orders for the $3.5 billion worth of shares on offer, Bloomberg reports. That kind of demand indicates that the company will likely price its shares even higher than this announced range, raising even more cash for itself and more value for its investors.
如果投资者对此次 IPO 反应热烈，那么 OpenAI 及其高管将获得多重收益。这种情况似乎很有可能发生。据彭博社报道，银行已经收到了价值 100 亿美元的认购订单，而此次发行的股票价值仅为 35 亿美元。这种需求表明，该公司很可能会以高于目前公布区间的价格定价，从而为自身筹集更多现金，并为投资者创造更多价值。