Cerebras vs Groq: Founders, CEOs and History
Cerebras was founded in 2015 by Andrew Feldman, Gary Lauterbach, Sean Lie and is led by Andrew Feldman. Groq was founded in 2016 by Jonathan Ross, Douglas Wightman and is led by Doug Wightman.
Company facts
Founders
Cerebras
Andrew Feldman
Andrew Feldman is a highly prominent technology entrepreneur and the CEO and co-founder of Cerebras Systems, a company that has completely revolutionized artificial intelligence hardware.
Gary Lauterbach
Gary Lauterbach is a brilliant hardware architect and co-founder of Cerebras Systems, serving as the primary architectural visionary behind the company's unprecedented Wafer-Scale Engine.
Sean Lie
Sean Lie is a co-founder and Chief Hardware Architect at Cerebras Systems. A prodigy in digital logic design, Lie architected the internal 2D mesh fabric of the Wafer-Scale Engine, connecting 900,000 independent AI processor cores with line-rate, low-latency i…
Michael James
Michael James is a co-founder and Chief Software Architect at Cerebras Systems. He directs the Cerebras software compiler stack, developing automated graph compilation tools that translate PyTorch and TensorFlow neural networks into physical core topologies ac…
Jean-Philippe Fricker
Jean-Philippe Fricker is a highly accomplished systems engineer and a co-founder of Cerebras Systems.
Groq
Jonathan Ross
Jonathan Ross co-founded Groq in 2016 and was its CEO until December 2025. At Google he helped start the TPU program, the custom AI accelerator Google uses across its services.
Douglas Wightman
Doug Wightman co-founded Groq with Jonathan Ross in 2016 after working as an engineer at Google.
CEOs and their tenures
Cerebras
- Robert Komin
Chief Financial Officer
Leads finance and investor relations as CFO, reporting Cerebras' first quarterly results as a public company in 2026.
Source - Andrew Feldman2015–present
Chief Executive Officer & Co-Founder
Co-founded SeaMicro and sold it to AMD in 2012 before co-founding Cerebras. Led the company from the first wafer-scale chip in 2019 through the OpenAI compute deal and the $5.55 billion May 2026 Nasdaq IPO.
Source - Sean Lie2015–present
Co-Founder & Hardware Architect
Led the unprecedented hardware engineering required to successfully manufacture the Wafer-Scale Engine, the largest and most complex artificial intelligence processor in history.
Source
Groq
- Alex Davis
Chairman
Founder of Dallas-based Disruptive, which led Groq's 2025 and 2026 rounds.
Source - Jonathan Ross2016–2025
Founder & Chief Executive Officer (former)
Led Groq from founding through the LPU and GroqCloud launch; joined Nvidia in December 2025.
Source - Simon Edwards2025–2026
Chief Executive Officer (former; previously CFO)
Became CEO in December 2025 after the Nvidia deal; left to become Bloom Energy CFO effective April 13, 2026.
Source - Doug Wightman2026–present
Chief Executive Officer & Co-Founder
Co-founded Groq in 2016; stayed after the Nvidia deal and became CEO, leading the pivot to an inference cloud and the June 2026 $650M raise.
Source - Alan Rice2026–present
Chief Operating Officer
Joined from xAI and Meta after a career in the U.S. Navy.
Source - Sinclair Schuller2026–present
Chief Technology Officer
Founder of Apprenda and co-founder of Nuvalence (acquired by EY in 2024).
Source - Rakesh Malhotra2026–present
Chief Product Officer
Nuvalence co-founder who spent about a decade on Microsoft cloud products.
Source
Timeline: Cerebras and Groq side by side
2015Cerebras
Cerebras Systems Founded in Los Altos
Andrew Feldman, Gary Lauterbach, Sean Lie, Michael James, and Jean-Philippe Fricker founded Cerebras in stealth mode.
2016Groq
Groq founded
Jonathan Ross and Douglas Wightman founded Groq in Mountain View to build a compiler-first AI inference chip.
2019Cerebras
Unveiling of the Historic Wafer-Scale Engine 1 (WSE-1)
Shocked the semiconductor industry at Hot Chips by revealing the world's first wafer-scale chip (1.2T transistors, 400,000 cores).
2021Cerebras
Launch of WSE-2 & $250M Series F at $4.0B Valuation
Released 7nm WSE-2 with 2.6 trillion transistors and 850,000 cores, raising $250 million led by Alpha Wave Ventures.
2021Groq
$300M Series C
Raised $300 million co-led by Tiger Global and D1 Capital, reaching unicorn status.
2023Cerebras
Condor Galaxy Multi-Exoflop Supercomputer Alliance with G42
Announced historic partnership with UAE's G42 to build Condor Galaxy, one of the world's largest AI supercomputers.
2024Cerebras
Debut of WSE-3 with 4 Trillion Transistors (TSMC 5nm)
Unveiled WSE-3, delivering 125 petaflops of AI compute and 900,000 cores on a single 300mm silicon wafer.
2024Cerebras
Launch of Cerebras Inference Cloud (1,800+ Tokens/Sec)
Launched cloud inference platform, setting global records by generating 1,800+ tokens per second on Llama 3.1 70B.
2024Cerebras
Cerebras Files Public S-1 Registration for Nasdaq IPO
Filed its first Form S-1 for a Nasdaq listing under the ticker CBRS in September 2024, disclosing that G42 supplied 87% of first-half 2024 revenue; the filing was withdrawn in 2025.
2024Groq
GroqCloud launches
Opened GroqCloud to developers; demos of open LLMs at several hundred tokens per second drew wide attention. Acquired Definitive Intelligence.
2024Groq
$640M Series D at $2.8B
Raised $640 million led by BlackRock Private Equity Partners at a $2.8 billion valuation.
2025Groq
$750M at $6.9B valuation
Raised $750 million at a $6.9 billion post-money valuation, led by Disruptive.
2025Groq
Nvidia licensing deal
Nvidia signed a non-exclusive license for Groq's inference technology, reported at about $20 billion, and hired Ross, Madra and other staff. CFO Simon Edwards became CEO.
2026Cerebras
Nasdaq IPO as CBRS
Priced 30 million shares at $185 on May 13, 2026, raising $5.55 billion, and closed its first day of trading up 68% at $311.07.
2026Groq
$650M raise and new leadership
Raised $650 million led by Disruptive and Infinitum; Doug Wightman became CEO and Groq added a new COO, CTO and CPO.
2026Groq
Nvidia Cloud Partner
Became an Nvidia Cloud Partner, clearing the way to equip its data centers with Nvidia inference systems.
Acquisitions
Cerebras
No verified acquisitions are listed.
Questions about Cerebras vs Groq
Who is the CEO of Cerebras Systems Inc. and Groq, Inc.?
Cerebras Systems Inc. is led by Andrew Feldman and Groq, Inc. is led by Doug Wightman. Both serve as the top executive responsible for the company's strategy, operations, and financial performance.
When was Cerebras Systems Inc. founded vs Groq, Inc.?
Cerebras Systems Inc. was founded in 2015 — 1 year before Groq, Inc., which was founded in 2016. Cerebras Systems Inc.'s longer operating history gives it a deeper track record but also potentially more institutional inertia compared to the younger Groq, Inc..
How many employees does Cerebras Systems Inc. have compared to Groq, Inc.?
Cerebras Systems Inc. employs approximately 708 people. A verified employee count for Groq, Inc. is not currently available.
Where are Cerebras Systems Inc. and Groq, Inc. headquartered?
Both Cerebras Systems Inc. and Groq, Inc. are headquartered in United States, meaning they operate under the same primary regulatory and tax environment.
Who founded Cerebras Systems Inc. and Groq, Inc.?
Cerebras Systems Inc. was founded by Andrew Feldman, Gary Lauterbach, Sean Lie, Michael James, Jean-Philippe Fricker. Groq, Inc. was founded by Jonathan Ross, Douglas Wightman.
Which company has a longer operating history — Cerebras Systems Inc. or Groq, Inc.?
Cerebras Systems Inc. has been operating for approximately 11 years, making it the more established of the two companies. Groq, Inc. has been in operation for around 10 years. A longer operating history often signals greater institutional resilience and brand recognition, though it can also mean slower adaptation to new market conditions.
Figures come from each company's filings and the sources linked beside them. Amounts reported in another currency are shown in US dollars at an approximate rate and marked with ~. Back to the Cerebras vs Groq overview