Nvidia licenses Groq chip technology and hires Groq executives while Groq stays independent

Economic Times
Economic Times
1m ago
Nvidia agreed to a non-exclusive license of Groq’s chip technology and hired Groq’s founder-CEO and other executives while Groq said it will continue operating independently under a new CEO.
Nvidia licenses Groq chip technology and hires Groq executives while Groq stays independent
A What happened
Nvidia agreed to license chip technology from startup Groq and hire Groq founder and CEO Jonathan Ross, Groq President Sunny Madra, and other engineering team members. Groq said the license is non-exclusive and that it will continue operating as an independent company with Simon Edwards as CEO, with its cloud business continuing to operate. Groq specializes in AI inference, where Nvidia faces more competition than in AI training. Groq did not disclose financial details of the deal, and neither Nvidia nor Groq commented on a CNBC report that Nvidia had agreed to acquire Groq for $20 billion in cash.
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Key insights

  • 1

    Regulatory scrutiny is a stated risk for talent-and-technology deals: Bernstein analyst Stacy Rasgon wrote that antitrust is the primary risk for the Nvidia-Groq arrangement and that a non-exclusive license may preserve the appearance of competition while Groq leadership and technical talent move to Nvidia.

  • 2

    Nvidia faces stronger competition in inference than in training: Nvidia dominates the market for training AI models, and the inference market is described as more competitive, with challengers including Advanced Micro Devices and startups such as Groq and Cerebras Systems.

Takeaways

Nvidia secured a non-exclusive license to Groq’s chip technology and hired key Groq executives while Groq said it will keep operating independently under a new CEO.

Topics

Technology & Innovation Artificial Intelligence World & Politics Policy & Regulation

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