AI chipmaker Cerebras files for IPO after scrapping paperwork in 2025

AI chipmaker Cerebras files for IPO after scrapping paperwork in 2025

Cerebras, a producer of chips that run artificial intelligence models, on Friday filed to go public on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol “CBRS.”

Cerebras reported a $87.9 million in net income on $510 million in revenue during 2025, according to Friday’s filing. Revenue grew nearly 76% from 2024, when the company had a $485 million net loss.

When Cerebras sought to go public the first time around in 2024, it said one company, Microsoft-backed G42, based in the United Arab Emirates, contributed 87% of revenue for the first half of that year. In 2025, 24% of Cerebras’ revenue came from G42, Friday’s filing showed. But another customer, Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence, a public institution based in the United Arab Emirates, provided 62% of revenue in 2025.

For years, Cerebras sought to sell chips to companies, but it has begun operating the chips inside its own data centers as a cloud service on behalf of clients. The company now counts Amazon, Microsoft, Alphabet, Oracle and CoreWeave among its competitors.

In January, Cerebras touted plans to provide up to 750 megawatts of computing power to OpenAI through 2028. The deal is valued at over $20 billion, Cerebras said. OpenAI can buy an additional 1.25 gigawatts worth of computing power through Cerebras through 2030, according to the filing.

OpenAI’s expanded relationship with Cerebras is worth over $20 billion, one person said. The Information previously reported on the arrangement.

In December, Cerebras issued OpenAI warrants to purchase up to 33.4 million shares of non-voting Class N stock, and in January, Cerebras received a $1 billion loan from OpenAI to build data center infrastructure and provide services as part of a broader agreement, according to the filing. The warrant only vests if OpenAI buys 2 gigawatts worth of computing power from Cerebras.

The OpenAI alliance “represents a substantial portion of our projected revenues over the next several years,” Cerebras said. At the same time, OpenAI has the right to end part or all of its agreement with Cerebras if the chipmaker fails to provide computing power on time, or if its service falls below a certain threshold.

Another major expansion could be on the way.

On Oracle‘s March earnings call, CEO Clay Magouyrk mentioned that the database and cloud company offers chips from Cerebras and other suppliers. But at the time, Oracle’s price list did not contain references to Cerebras. Friday’s filing did not mention any business with Oracle.

In March, Cerebras signed a deal with Amazon that will enable cloud services on top of Cerebras chips and allow the commerce company to buy about $270 million in Cerebras’ Class N stock.

Cerebras does supply OpenAI with cloud-based computing power to operate a coding tool. Many companies that build and deploy generative AI models rely on Nvidia’s graphics processing units, or GPUs. Advanced Micro Devices has made inroads in AI infrastructure as well. Cerebras says on its website that its Wafer Scale Engine 3 chips work at higher speed and for lower cost in comparison with GPUs.

Cerebras has picked up new business by emphasizing the high speed that its large-scale processors can deliver, particularly for responding to queries from end users.

The company announced plans for an initial public offering in 2024 but withdrew the paperwork last year to add information on financial performance and strategy.

Retail investors are thirsty for IPOs from large and growing technology companies after a relative drought that began in 2022. AI companies Anthropic and OpenAI are considering going public as soon as this year.

In February, Cerebras said it raised $1 billion in financing at a $23 billion round.

In September, days before withdrawing the IPO paperwork, Cerebras said it had raised a $1.1 billion funding round at an $8.1 billion valuation.

Cerebras was founded in 2016 and is based in Sunnyvale, California, with 708 employees as of Dec. 31. Andrew Feldman, the startup’s co-founder and CEO, sold server startup SeaMicro to AMD for $355 million in 2012.

Feldman has said that in 2018, Tesla CEO Elon Musk tried to buy Cerebras. Investors include Alpha Wave, Benchmark, Eclipse, Fidelity and Foundation Capital, according to Friday’s filing. Cerebras’ website also lists OpenAI CEO Sam Altman as an investor.

Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, Barclays and UBS are among the top underwriters in the offering, according to Friday’s regulatory filing.

Cerebras said in the filing that it doesn’t own the data centers it relies on to offer cloud services, but it might build its own in the future.

CNBC reported earlier that the company had plans to file the paperwork on Friday, citing two people familiar with the matter. The people spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal matters. Cerebras declined to comment.

— CNBC’s Seema Mody contributed to this report.

WATCH: OpenAI unveils first AI model running on Cerebras chips

OpenAI unveils first AI model running on Cerebras chips
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