Poolside

Artificial Intelligence · Semiconductors · Coding AI

Funding

Nvidia reportedly pays $6B to license Poolside's AI Model Factory

The structure dodges the regulatory review a full buyout would trigger, though the chipmaker's own models now compete with these researchers.

• Nvidia struck a non-exclusive $6 billion licensing deal for Poolside's "Model Factory" AI-training system and extended job offers to 109 Poolside employees, while separately investing $1 billion in the startup at a $12 billion pre-money valuation, according to an investor letter obtained by Newcomer.
• Poolside, founded in 2023 by former GitHub CTO Jason Warner and Eiso Kant, builds coding-focused AI models via its Model Factory pipeline, including its open-weight Laguna model family used by defense contractors like RTX.
• Founders and executives explicitly deny the deal is an acquisition or acquihire; Poolside's three founders remain in place, running whatever the company becomes next while its technical staff moves to Nvidia.
• Poolside's valuation has roughly quadrupled from the $3 billion mark set in its October 2024 Series B, led by Bain Capital, DST Global and eBay, to a $12 billion pre-money figure now.
• Nvidia has used similar licensing-plus-hiring structures before, including deals reportedly worth $20 billion with Groq and $900 million with Enfabrica, avoiding the antitrust review a straightforward acquisition would trigger.
• Poolside plans to distribute the $6 billion licensing payout to its investors by the end of 2027, effectively delivering a payday without a formal sale of the company.
• The arrangement shows how a chipmaker can absorb a rival's research talent and core technology at acquisition-scale value while avoiding the merger scrutiny a full buyout would invite.