NVIDIA to Invest $1 billion in Poolside at $12 billion Valuation, Spend $6 billion on Tech and Talent
NVIDIA plans to invest $1 billion in AI startup Poolside at a $12 billion valuation and pay $6 billion for its technology and research staff, totaling $7 billion. The deal, similar to NVIDIA's late-2025 agreement with Groq, is not an acquisition; Poolside will remain independent. Over 100 Poolside employees will join NVIDIA to develop its open-source Nemotron models, aiming to make them the world's strongest open-source AI models.
NVIDIA has announced a total investment of $7 billion to acquire the technology rights and some research personnel of AI startup Poolside, along with a $1 billion investment at a $12 billion valuation. This collaboration model mirrors NVIDIA's agreement with LPU chip company Groq in late 2025, which is not a direct acquisition but rather a substantial payment for technology licensing and talent. Poolside will continue to operate independently. More than 100 Poolside employees will join NVIDIA to work on its in-house large language model, Nemotron, with the goal of making this series the world's strongest open-source large language model.
NVIDIA has long supported open-source large language models, having previously praised Chinese open-source models such as DeepSeek and Kimi. Its Nemotron models remain open-source, but their performance has not yet reached the level of Chinese open-source models like DS V4 and Kimi K3.
Both companies are purchasing AI computing power beyond NVIDIA GPUs, including chips from Google and Amazon, and are developing their own AI chips to reduce dependence on NVIDIA hardware. NVIDIA's move is also seen as a strategic positioning in the open-source AI space to address future market changes.