Startup news, 20 October 2026

5 briefs

• Tenstorrent raises $1.5B at $6.2B valuation, spurns Intel and Qualcomm

  Tenstorrent has raised $1.5 billion in a Series E round at a $6.2 billion valuation, rejecting earlier acquisition offers from Intel and Qualcomm to stay independent. The funding, led by Trace…

  Reported by finance.yahoo.com, unite.ai

• Amazon’s TorchNeuron aims to loosen Nvidia’s grip on PyTorch

  Amazon Web Services has released TorchNeuron, a tool intended to help AI startups run their models on Amazon’s Trainium chips rather than Nvidia’s GPUs. The move is part of a broader effort to…

  Reported by techcrunch.com

• Harbor AI secures $10M to explore insurance for AI-driven risks

  AI insurance startup Harbor AI has raised $10 million in seed funding to develop tools for assessing and covering risks tied to AI systems. The round was backed by Base10 Partners, AbstractVC, and…

  Reported by kucoin.com

• Othello raises $8M for AI that coaches sales reps in real time

  Othello, a startup building AI that coaches sales representatives during live calls, has raised an $8 million seed round led by Andreessen Horowitz Speedrun and Owl Capital. The company’s software…

  Reported by alleywatch.com

• Tenstorrent raises $1.5B at $6.2B valuation, rejects buyout offers

  AI chip startup Tenstorrent has raised $1. 5 billion in a Series E round, lifting its valuation to $6. 2 billion. The funding, led by Trace Capital and Innovation X, includes participation from ARK…

  Reported by datacenterdynamics.com, finance.yahoo.com, finance.yahoo.com