Nvidia Acquires AI Startup Run:ai for an Estimated $700 Million

Nvidia has acquired the Israeli startup Run:ai, which aids developers and operational teams in managing and optimizing AI infrastructure.

The financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed. However, sources cited by TechCrunch suggest the acquisition was valued at $700 million.

Previously, media reports indicated that Run:ai could be valued at $1 billion if negotiations with Nvidia were successful. It seems the discussions proceeded smoothly, although the final price may have varied.

Nvidia stated it would continue to offer Run:ai products under the existing business model and invest in their development as part of Nvidia DGX Cloud AI. This platform provides corporate clients with computational infrastructure and software for training AI models.

Users of Nvidia DGX servers, stations, and the DGX Cloud will gain access to Run:ai’s capabilities for deploying AI workloads, particularly generative ones, across multiple data centers.

“Run:ai has closely collaborated with Nvidia since 2020, and we are united in our goal to maximize infrastructure efficiency for our clients,” said Run:ai CEO Omri Geller.

Geller and Ronen Dar founded Run:ai in 2018 after studying at Tel Aviv University under Professor Meir Feder, the third co-founder of the startup. They aimed to create a platform for the parallel “distribution” of AI models on various hardware locally, in the cloud, or at the edge.

Run:ai has few direct competitors, but other companies are also applying the concept of dynamic resource allocation for AI tasks. For instance, Grid.ai develops software for parallel training of models on graphics accelerators, processors, and other equipment.

In a short time, Run:ai has managed to build a broad client base among Fortune 500 companies and attract venture investments. Before the acquisition, the startup raised $118 million from funds such as Insight Partners, Tiger Global, S Capital, and TLV Partners.

According to Nvidia Vice President Alexis Björlin, the demand for efficient AI computing is growing in response to the increasing complexity of model deployment. A ClearML survey indicated that the key obstacles to scaling AI in 2024 are the limited and high cost of computational resources, as well as infrastructure challenges.

Run:ai is one of Nvidia’s largest acquisitions since purchasing Mellanox for $6.9 billion in March 2019.

In October 2023, Nvidia and Foxconn entered into a partnership for an “industrial AI revolution.”

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