Reports emerged on Wednesday that NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) has agreed to acquire Groq, a designer of high-performance artificial intelligence accelerator chips, in a $20 billion all-cash deal. Groq recently raised $750 million at a valuation of about $6.9 billion.
However, the Nvidia–Groq transaction does not appear to be a traditional acquisition despite CNBC reporting. Groq said it has entered into a "non-exclusive inference technology licensing agreement" with Nvidia aimed at accelerating AI inference at global scale.
Under the terms of the agreement, Nvidia will license Groq’s inference technology, reflecting what Groq described as a shared focus on expanding access to high-performance, low-cost inference. The deal does not grant exclusivity.
As part of the arrangement, Groq founder Jonathan Ross, President Sunny Madra and other members of the Groq team will join Nvidia to help advance and scale the licensed technology. Groq said it will continue to operate as an independent company, with Simon Edwards stepping into the role of chief executive officer.
That structure suggests Nvidia is not acquiring Groq itself, its intellectual property, or exclusive rights to its technology, but is instead paying for licensed use of the technology and the addition of key personnel. Nvidia is yet to comment on the deal.
Shares in the AI chipmaking behemoth are up 0.7% in thin premarket trade Friday.
Sumber By Investing.com