Synopsis : Nvidia has entered a licensing agreement with AI chip startup Groq, bringing Groq CEO Jonathan Ross—one of the architects of Google Tensor—into its fold. The move strengthens Nvidia’s push to dominate the fast-growing AI inference market amid intensifying competition.
Nvidia Corp. has signed a strategic licensing deal with AI chip startup Groq, marking another significant move in its effort to stay ahead in the rapidly evolving artificial intelligence hardware race. The agreement highlights Nvidia’s growing focus on AI inference technologies, even as competition heats up with rivals such as Google.
As part of the deal, Groq’s Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Ross, along with other senior executives, will join Nvidia to help “advance and scale licensed technology,” according to Groq’s official statement released on Wednesday. The development has drawn attention across the tech industry, as Ross is one of the original creators of Google’s Tensor Processing Unit (TPU)—a custom AI chip widely seen as a cost-effective alternative to Nvidia’s GPUs.
Despite the leadership transition, Groq will continue to operate as an independent company, and its cloud services business will remain fully operational. The companies did not disclose financial details of the licensing agreement.
The announcement comes weeks after media speculation that Nvidia was preparing to acquire Groq in a $20-billion all-cash deal, which would have marked Nvidia’s largest acquisition to date. The licensing route instead signals a more collaborative strategy, allowing Nvidia to absorb key talent and technology without a full takeover.
Nvidia, led by Jensen Huang, has surged to become the world’s most valuable company, driven by explosive demand for its GPUs used in training advanced AI models. Beyond training, the company is aggressively expanding its footprint in AI inference—the process of running large language models once they are trained.
As part of this broader push, Nvidia has outlined plans to invest up to $100 billion in OpenAI, with Sam Altman’s company committing to deploy at least 10 gigawatts of Nvidia-powered infrastructure. This places Nvidia at the heart of the global AI arms race, even as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini compete for dominance in consumer and enterprise AI applications.
Founded in 2016, Groq is one of several startups aiming to challenge Nvidia and Google by developing specialized AI inference chips designed to optimize performance for pre-trained large language models. The Mountain View–based company has attracted significant investor interest.
In September 2025, Groq raised $750 million from investors including Samsung, Cisco, Disruptive, Altimeter, and 1789 Capital, where Donald Trump Jr. is a partner. The funding round more than doubled Groq’s valuation to $6.9 billion, up from $2.8 billion in August 2024.
With this licensing deal, Nvidia gains access to cutting-edge inference expertise while reinforcing its position in the AI ecosystem—signalling that the competition for AI chip supremacy is only intensifying.
Disclaimer : This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment, or legal advice. Readers are advised to conduct their own research or consult professionals before making any business or investment decisions.
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