Natasha Mascarenhas

Chip startups SambaNova, Cerebras and Groq, trying to carve out a sliver of the $71 billion market for AI chips, are selling to Middle Eastern countries that have deep pockets and big ambitions in AI.

Silicon Valley has never felt more intertwined with the Middle East—and I’m not just saying that because I’m writing this column as I graze on dates in the lobby of Rosewood Abu Dhabi. I spent the last week meeting investors, operators and founders in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, where evidence of U.S. venture capital was easy to find.

Amy Griffin, left, and Kirsten Green. Photo by Erin Beach for The Information.

MatX, a two-year-old startup developing a server chip for artificial intelligence, is looking to raise between $75 million to $100 million in new capital, according to a pitch deck viewed by The Information and an investor with knowledge of the deal. The company’s target valuation could not be learned.In its pitch deck to investors, the startup indicated its chip, which it aims to start

General Catalyst is swiftly widening its global footprint. On the heels of acquiring two smaller venture firms in India and Germany, the firm plans to lead an investment in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia-based financial technology startup Lean Technologies, according to a person with direct knowledge of the firm’s investments.

Physical Intelligence CEO Karol Hausman. Photo: YouTube screengrab.

It hasn’t been this hard for first-time fund managers to raise capital in about a decade. But one group of newbie venture capitalists is having more luck: founders and other alumni of artificial intelligence startups.

Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence startup xAI has discussed raising $5 billion from investors at a valuation of about $45 billion, according to a person familiar with the discussions. Investors are expected to include a mix of returning backers, including Valor Equity Partners.

Institutional Venture Partners is in talks to lead a $500 million investment in Perplexity, which has developed an artificial intelligence-powered search engine that competes with Google, according to two people with knowledge of the deal. The company is set to raise the round at a $9 billion valuation, triple the valuation from a round earlier this year.

OpenAI’s rapid growth continues to boost the prospects of suppliers and other business partners whose sales are also climbing quickly.