Nvidia Spends Nearly a Billion on AI Startup to Hire CEO
Nvidia has paid nearly a billion dollars to bring in fresh talent and technology from an AI hardware startup.
According to a CNBC report on Thursday, Nvidia spent more than $900 million in cash and stock to hire Rochan Sankar, the CEO of AI chip startup Enfabrica, as well as several other employees at the company. Additionally, as part of the deal, Nvidia is allowed to license Enfabrica technology. The deal closed last week, and Sankar has already begun working at Nvidia, per CNBC‘s sources.
Enfabrica’s chips use special software to keep data center speeds up, but costs down. The startup’s standout feature is a system that incorporates cheaper memory costs, which noticeably reduces the cost of operating AI.
Related: Nvidia’s CEO Says It No Longer Matters If You Never Learned to Code: ‘There’s a New Programming Language’
The deal, which involves bringing in new talent, is similar to those conducted recently by Google and Meta. In June, Meta invested $14.3 billion in AI data training startup Scale AI. The deal involved former Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang leaving the startup to join Meta’s superintelligence team.
Meanwhile, in July, Google signed a $2.4 billion agreement with AI coding startup Windsurf to hire the startup’s CEO, Varun Mohan, as well as other employees. Google also obtained a nonexclusive license to Windsurf’s technology.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. Photo by Chesnot/Getty Images
The advantage of trading money for new talent is that tech giants can circumvent the complex regulatory hurdles that come with acquisitions — and still poach top talent from other companies.
Nvidia first began its involvement with Enfabrica in 2023, as one of the backers in a $125 million Series B funding round for the startup. Enfabrica was last valued at around $600 million in November, following a $115 million Series C round, according to PitchBook.
Nvidia has also made or considered a few other high-profile deals lately. Earlier this week, the AI chipmaker announced that it would be investing $5 billion into Intel to develop advanced technology, a deal that Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang called “an incredible investment.” On Friday, Nvidia signed a letter of intent to evaluate a $500 million investment in self-driving car startup Wayve.
Nvidia is the world’s most valuable company, a spot it claimed in June. One month later, Nvidia became the world’s first company to exceed $4 trillion in market value. The AI chipmaker is worth $4.32 trillion at the time of writing.
Related: Nvidia CEO Warns That ‘Some Jobs’ Will Disappear As the AI Chipmaker’s Earnings Beat Estimates
Nvidia has paid nearly a billion dollars to bring in fresh talent and technology from an AI hardware startup.
According to a CNBC report on Thursday, Nvidia spent more than $900 million in cash and stock to hire Rochan Sankar, the CEO of AI chip startup Enfabrica, as well as several other employees at the company. Additionally, as part of the deal, Nvidia is allowed to license Enfabrica technology. The deal closed last week, and Sankar has already begun working at Nvidia, per CNBC‘s sources.
Enfabrica’s chips use special software to keep data center speeds up, but costs down. The startup’s standout feature is a system that incorporates cheaper memory costs, which noticeably reduces the cost of operating AI.
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