Exclusive: Nvidia buying AI chip startup Groq for about $20 billion in its largest acquisition on record

Core Insights - Nvidia has agreed to acquire Groq, a designer of high-performance AI accelerator chips, for $20 billion in cash, marking Nvidia's largest acquisition to date [1][3] - Groq recently raised $750 million at a valuation of approximately $6.9 billion, with significant investments from firms like Blackrock, Samsung, and Cisco [2] - The acquisition will include all of Groq's assets, but its emerging Groq cloud business will not be part of the transaction [3][4] Company Overview - Groq was founded in 2016 by former engineers, including CEO Jonathan Ross, who was involved in creating Google's tensor processing unit [5] - The company is targeting $500 million in revenue this year, driven by increasing demand for AI accelerator chips [4] - Groq was not actively seeking a sale when approached by Nvidia, indicating strong market interest in its technology [4] Financial Context - Nvidia's cash and short-term investments have significantly increased to $60.6 billion by the end of October 2023, up from $13.3 billion in early 2023 [3] - Nvidia has been actively investing in the AI ecosystem, including a planned $100 billion investment in OpenAI and a $5 billion investment in Intel [6] Industry Trends - The AI boom has led to increased interest and investment in chip startups, with companies like Cerebras Systems also gaining traction [7] - The demand for AI accelerator chips is surging, particularly for applications related to large language models [4]