Nvidia pays $6 billion for Poolside AI model license, invests another $1 billion

Nvidia has agreed to pay $6 billion to AI startup Poolside for a non-exclusive license to its AI model software, and will offer jobs to 109 Poolside employees. The goal is to develop an AI model that can compete with DeepSeek and Kimi K3. Nvidia will also invest an additional $1 billion, valuing Poolside at $12 billion. Poolside will remain independent, and its three founders will stay on.

As the world's largest AI chip maker, Nvidia is actively investing in the AI industry to speed up AI adoption across sectors. Recently, it has focused more on open-source AI models. Its own Nemotron series hasn't reached top performance, so this deal may help boost its model competitiveness. Analysts say Nvidia aims to expand AI usage, which would increase demand for its inference chips.