Nvidia has committed $7 billion to artificial intelligence startup Poolside, securing a non-exclusive license for its AI model-development software and making a $1 billion strategic equity investment. The $6 billion licensing payment covers Poolside's Model Factory—the infrastructure used to build its Laguna family of open-weight coding models.
Nvidia plans to use the licensed technology to develop its own open-weight AI model to compete with Chinese AI firms including DeepSeek and KimiK3.
The equity investment values Poolside at $13 billion post-money and preserves the startup's independence; its three co-founders will remain in place. Nvidia will also extend job offers to 109 Poolside employees who developed the Laguna models.
Poolside's existing investors will receive the $6 billion licensing fee by the end of 2027. According to an investor letter, Poolside needed access to Nvidia hardware beyond what it could obtain independently—a constraint this deal addresses.
The arrangement reflects Nvidia's dual positioning: as both critical infrastructure supplier and competitor to customers building AI systems. The company has made similar licensing and talent acquisitions with inference-chip designer Groq and networking-hardware firm Enfabrica.
The economics are notable: a $6 billion licensing fee for model-building software—not an acquisition of the company itself—signals how Nvidia values access to proprietary training infrastructure without full balance-sheet consolidation.
