According to a report by CNBC, Nvidia recently spent more than $900 million to license Enfabrica’s technology and hire Rochan Sankar, the CEO of the artificial intelligence hardware business, along with other staff members. According to the report, Nvidia is paying cash and stock in a deal that is reminiscent of recent AI talent acquisitions done by Meta and Google.
The report further stated that the acquisition was finalised last week, and Rochan Sankar, the CEO of Enfabrica, has joined Nvidia. Since the introduction of OpenAI’s ChatGPT in late 2022, Nvidia has been the mainstay of the AI boom. Large language models are trained using the company’s graphics processing units (GPUs), which are typically purchased in large clusters and enable giant cloud providers to provide AI services to customers.
Nvidia Building a Strong AI Network
Nvidia’s latest AI chips, such as the A100, came in towering racks with 72 GPUs installed and cooperating, whereas its older models were single processors that slid into servers. Microsoft stated on September 18 that the $4 billion data centre in Wisconsin would house that kind of technology.
The 2019-founded company Enfabrica claims that its technology can link over 100,000 GPUs. Nvidia may be able to provide integrated systems around its processors with the aid of this technology, enabling clusters to function as a single computer. In 2023, Nvidia made a $125 million Series B investment in Enfabrica under the leadership of Atreides Management.
The business claimed that the valuation was five times higher than its Series A capital, but it did not reveal it at the time. Spark Capital, Arm, Samsung, and Cisco were among the investors who helped Enfabrica raise an additional $115 million towards the end of last year. The post-money valuation was approximately $600 million, according to PitchBook.
Nvidia’s Competitors also Hiring Elite AI Talent
Through agreements that resemble acquisitions, tech powerhouse Meta, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon have all heavily invested in hiring elite AI talent. Because of the agreements, the companies are able to hire outstanding researchers and engineers without having to worry about the regulatory complexities associated with acquisitions.
The largest of these transactions occurred in June, when Meta acquired a 49% share in Scale AI and paid $14.3 billion to Alexandr Wang and other Scale AI founders. A month later, Google revealed that it had reached a $2.4 billion deal, including licence costs, to hire Varun Mohan, co-founder and CEO of Windsurf, a business that specialises in artificial intelligence code, along with other R&D staff. Google struck a similar agreement to hire Character’s founders last year. AI. Amazon did the same for Adept, while Microsoft did the same for Inflection.
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•Nvidia’s deal mirrors AI talent •Nvidia GPUs power large language •Nvidia had already invested $125M in •Enfabrica raised funds from Spark |
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