Meta, Intel, Rivos, Poaching, Startups, And IP Transfers – What Is Going On?

Exclusive: The operative term for this mess is, “Icky”

Jun 16, 2026 by

Rivos LogoWhat happens when you have two companies, two startups, and what looks like a lot of backroom deals all come together? Stay with SemiAccurate as we tell you a tale of what looks like… well it is potentially a very ugly mess.

Lets start out with some history, read this first for the long version, short version is that SemiAccurate’s sources told us long before it was public that Intel was going to buy both Rivos and SambaNova. They also said both companies had technology that was never going to succeed, this was based on deep technical evaluations, not public statements. In short, the outlook for both companies was not positive.

In the end, Meta bought Rivos in October 2025 and while sources inside Meta are not overjoyed with the result, it is done. Intel tried to acquire SambaNova a few months later, which as the link above states, we thought was a terrible idea. Apparently some people at Intel thought so too because in February, that pending merger collapsed, only to be replaced by a $350 million funding round from Intel. At his recent Computex keynote, Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan was very blunt in his praise for SambaNova and the partnership with Intel, so much so that it stood out. Nowhere was the fact that Lip-Bu’s VC fund has a major stake in SambaNova mentioned, but this was a keynote, not a financial analyst day.

That was the history, what is happening now? Well how about a tale of Rivos Mark 2, questionable behaviors while under contractual obligations, gifting of technology access in unprecedented ways, promises of acquisitions in months for 10-digit sums, potential IP transfers, potential self-dealing, and to top it all off, a likely internal investigation.

We told you it would be ugly, and while much of this is our connecting dots, the sources that were bang on last time months ahead of the news breaking publicly seem to be right on the mark this time. We would be remiss in our duties if we didn’t end this teaser with a pun so it looks like things are not turning up Rosaic.

Note: The following is for professional and student level subscribers.

Disclosures: Charlie Demerjian and Stone Arch Networking Services, Inc. have no consulting relationships, investment relationships, or hold any investment positions with any of the companies mentioned in this report.

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Charlie Demerjian

Roving engine of chaos and snide remarks at SemiAccurate
Charlie Demerjian is the founder of Stone Arch Networking Services and SemiAccurate.com. SemiAccurate.com is a technology news site; addressing hardware design, software selection, customization, securing and maintenance, with over one million views per month. He is a technologist and analyst specializing in semiconductors, system and network architecture. As head writer of SemiAccurate.com, he regularly advises writers, analysts, and industry executives on technical matters and long lead industry trends. Charlie is also available through Guidepoint and Mosaic. FullyAccurate