American artificial intelligence startup Cerebras Systems Inc. said it has cleared all regulatory hurdles from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), paving the way for its expected initial public offering (IPO), Bloomberg has reported. The company has revised the terms of cooperation with Abu Dhabi-based Group 42 Holding Ltd. (G42), a key external partner and the company’s largest customer, to avoid national security concerns. From now on, G42 will only have the right to purchase non-voting shares, which, according to the parties, alleviates the concerns of American regulators.
Cerebras, which specializes in creating computer systems for deep learning, has been actively cooperating with G42 since 2023. This cooperation has provided more than 80% of the company’s revenue. The deal includes the supply of supercomputers for projects to create chatbots and analyze genomic data. In the context of the planned IPO, the potential dependence on a state partner from the UAE and the controlling influence on capital raised concerns from CFIUS. In response, Cerebras chose the path of regulatory adaptation, demonstrating a willingness to engage in a constructive dialogue with the authorities.
Trump wants to outdo China in the field of AI
The Cerebras case reflects a broader trend – the growing caution of the US in the field of technology investments, especially when it comes to sensitive artificial intelligence infrastructure. After the change of administration, tough rhetoric about protecting innovative technologies from the influence of countries that may cooperate with China returned to power. Biden introduced a number of restrictions on the transfer of AI solutions outside the United States, and CFIUS intensified the review of investments related to the Middle East. Against this backdrop, the Trump administration, which is seeking to return to the White House, is focusing on competing with Beijing in the field of artificial intelligence, but at the same time does not object to large-scale investments in physical AI infrastructure.
This balance is evident in the recent pledge by Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed, the UAE’s national security adviser, to invest $1.4 trillion in the United States over the next decade. In this context, the G42 and Cerebras partnership is presented as an example of “positive cross-border cooperation” that, according to representatives of the companies, does not pose national security risks, but instead promotes innovation and sustainable growth in the AI sector. Although US Treasury officials have refrained from commenting, the Cerebras case could become a test case for new principles for allowing foreign capital into strategic technologies.
Cerebras is trying to challenge Nvidia
Cerebras is one of the few American AI companies that dares to go public in 2025. The startup is trying to position itself as an alternative to Nvidia’s monopoly in the production of chips for computing infrastructure. Its strategy is to create large, high-performance chips that can process the data sets needed to deploy large-scale AI platforms. Thanks to the agreement with G42, the company has already launched data centers in California, Texas and Minnesota — infrastructure that can be seen as Nvidia’s “ecosystem response”.
According to estimates, the IPO could bring Cerebras about $ 1 billion at a valuation of the company of $ 7-8 billion. In the documents for the public offering, the company indicated that G42 provided 87% of its revenue in the first half of 2024 alone. This dependence also has a downside: the export of Cerebras products, including their use outside the United States, will be subject to control by the Bureau of Industry and Security of the US Department of Commerce. Thus, the success of the future IPO will depend not only on the company’s technological breakthroughs, but also on how convincingly it can prove that its international development model does not contradict Washington’s strategic interests.