Nvidia has just completed the largest acquisition in its history. The chipmaker buys assets at Groqa nine-year-old AI startup that designs ultra-fast inference chips, for $20 billion in cash. The deal shows how aggressive the race for dominance in AI computing has become, especially as Nvidia is flexing its massive cash reserve to lock in emerging chip talent before competitors can snap it up.
Nvidia agreed to purchase assets from Groqa designer of high-performance AI accelerator chips, for $20 billion in cash, according to Disruptive CEO Alex Davis, who led Groq’s final funding round in September. The deal was completed quickly, Davis said, despite Groq is not actively looking for a buyer.
Only three months ago from Nvidia offer, Groq had closed a $750 million funding round that valued the company at approximately $6.9 billion. That round included heavyweights like Blackrock, Neuberger Berman, Samsung, Cisco and Altimeter, as well as 1789 Capital, where Donald Trump Jr. sits as a partner. The speed at which the valuation has nearly tripled highlights how hot demand for specialized AI chips has become.
Groq confirmed the deal in a blog post Wednesday, saying it had “entered into a non-exclusive licensing agreement with Nvidia For Groq’s inference technology. » The deal includes a significant change in leadership: Groq founder and CEO Jonathan Ross, along with President Sunny Madra and other senior executives, will join Nvidia to help advance and evolve the licensed technology. In the meantime, Groq’s The cloud business will continue to operate independently, now under the leadership of CFO Simon Edwards as the new CEO.
Nvidia Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress declined to comment on details, but the company’s CEO, Jensen Huang, sent an email to employees that was obtained by CNBC. “We plan to integrate Groq’s low-latency processors in the NVIDIA AI Factory architecture, extending the platform to serve an even wider range of AI inference and real-time workloads,” Huang wrote. He emphasized that although Nvidia is “adding talented employees to our ranks and licensing Groq’s IP, we do not acquire as a business. » It’s a distinction that matters… retains its status as an independent company, excluding most of its core assets and leadership.
