Nvidia Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA) is making an aggressive push into AI models, striking a multibillion-dollar deal with Poolside to develop a powerful open-weight system aimed at rivals including OpenAI, Anthropic, DeepSeek and Kimi.
Nvidia Bets $6 Billion on Poolside AI Technology
Nvidia will pay $6 billion to license Poolside’s AI technology and invest another $1 billion in the startup at a $12 billion pre-money valuation, according to The Wall Street Journal.
More than 100 Poolside employees, including engineers, are also expected to join Nvidia and work on its Nemotron open-weight AI project.
Poolside said its Nvidia deal aims to advance AGI as an open technology rather than one "controlled by few," according to a shareholder letter reviewed by the publication.
Poolside will remain independent, with founders Eiso Kant and Jason Warner staying outside Nvidia while continuing unspecified research work.
Nvidia and Poolside did not immediately respond to Benzinga’s request for comment.
Nvidia Takes Aim at DeepSeek, Kimi and OpenAI
The deal underscores Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s growing focus on open-weight AI models, which can be downloaded, customized and deployed more flexibly than closed models.
That puts Nvidia directly in competition with Chinese open-model developers such as DeepSeek and Moonshot AI’s Kimi, while also potentially challenging U.S. AI leaders such as OpenAI and Anthropic.
Nvidia has increasingly backed open AI efforts as Chinese models gain ground. The company launched its Nemotron Coalition in March, bringing together open-model developers to share expertise, data and computing resources.
Price Action: Nvidia shares closed at $214.72 on Friday, down 0.98%. The stock rose 0.31% to $215.38 in after-hours trading, according to Benzinga Pro.
According to Benzinga Edge Rankings, Nvidia ranks in the 99th percentile for Growth and holds positive short-, medium- and long-term price trend ratings.
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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