Santa Clara-based Rivos, backed by Intel CEO Lip‑Bu Tan and known for RISC‑V-based systems, was reportedly in talks with Meta—its major customer—for acquisition while seeking new funding at a $2 billion valuation
Meta has announced plans to acquire Rivos, a California-based chip startup specialising in the RISC‑V architecture, as part of its strategy to strengthen internal semiconductor development. The terms of the deal are undisclosed, and Rivos did not respond to requests for comment.
Based in Santa Clara with backing from Intel’s CEO Lip‑Bu Tan, Rivos is known for designing full‑stack systems built around RISC‑V, an open‑source alternative to traditional architectures from Arm, Intel, and AMD. Meta has long been a major customer of Rivos, and sources say acquisition talks had been underway prior to the announcement. The startup was reportedly seeking fresh funding at a valuation of around $2 billion.
Accelerating Meta’s custom chip ambitions
Meta aims to leverage Rivos’ capabilities to scale up its Meta Training and Inference Accelerator (MTIA) portfolio—its suite of custom AI chips developed in-house. According to VP of engineering Yee Jiun Song, Rivos’ tech complements Meta’s push to build more of its AI infrastructure internally.
This move comes as Meta already experiments with its own chip designs to cut reliance on expensive third‑party hardware, especially amid heavy spending on Nvidia’s AI processors. A Meta spokesperson said the acquisition “will further accelerate our efforts” in custom silicon.
