Groq-Nvidia Deal
A $20 billion licensing agreement where Nvidia will use Groq's technology for AI inference chips. This deal is presented as a major strategic move in the AI hardware space.
First Mentioned
1/1/2026, 5:25:16 AM
Last Updated
1/1/2026, 5:28:29 AM
Research Retrieved
1/1/2026, 5:28:29 AM
Summary
In December 2025, Nvidia and Groq entered into a landmark $20 billion agreement, marking Nvidia's largest-ever deal. Structured as a non-exclusive licensing agreement and asset purchase rather than a full merger, the deal allows Nvidia to integrate Groq's Language Processing Unit (LPU) technology into its ecosystem, specifically targeting the 'decode' or inference phase of AI processing to complement Nvidia's dominance in the 'prefill' phase. As part of the arrangement, Groq's founder Jonathan Ross and President Sunny Madra, along with approximately 80% of the engineering staff, joined Nvidia to scale the licensed technology. Despite the massive transfer of talent and intellectual property, Groq continues to operate as an independent entity under the leadership of new CEO Simon Edwards, maintaining its GroqCloud platform and the right to license its IP to other parties.
Referenced in 1 Document
Research Data
Extracted Attributes
Deal Structure
Asset purchase, non-exclusive IP licensing, and talent transfer (acquihire)
Transaction Value
$20 billion (USD) in cash
Primary Technology
Language Processing Unit (LPU) for AI inference
Talent Transfer Volume
Approximately 80% of Groq's engineering staff
Groq Previous Valuation
$6.9 billion as of September 2025
Nvidia Market Capitalization
Exceeding $4.6 trillion at the time of the deal
Timeline
- Groq completes a financing round led by Disruptive, valuing the company at $6.9 billion. (Source: CNBC)
2025-09-01
- Nvidia and Groq finalize a definitive agreement for a $20 billion asset and licensing deal. (Source: The Nvidia-Groq Transaction - Medium)
2025-12-24
- The deal is publicly announced, detailing the transfer of senior leadership and engineering teams to Nvidia. (Source: IntuitionLabs)
2025-12-25
- Anticipated integration of Groq's LPU technology into Nvidia's upcoming 2026 'Vera Rubin' chip architecture. (Source: Seeking Alpha)
2026-01-01
Wikipedia
View on WikipediaGroq
Groq, Inc. is an American artificial intelligence (AI) company that builds an AI accelerator application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC). The architecture was originally introduced as a Tensor Streaming Processor (TSP) but was later rebranded as a Language Processing Unit (LPU) following the widespread adoption of large language models after the breakthrough of ChatGPT. The company also develops related computer hardware and software to accelerate AI inference performance. Examples of the types of AI workloads that run on Groq's LPU are: large language models (LLMs), image classification, and predictive analysis. Groq is headquartered in Mountain View, CA, and has offices in San Jose, CA, Liberty Lake, WA, Toronto, Canada, London, U.K. and remote employees throughout North America and Europe. In December 2025, Nvidia and Groq announced an agreement reportedly valued at approximately US$20 billion to license Groq's AI inference technology and to transfer several senior Groq executives to Nvidia. Groq stated that it would continue to operate as an independent company.
Web Search Results
- The Nvidia-Groq Transaction - Medium
## Part I: The Architecture of the Deal ## 1.1 Transaction Mechanics and Valuation The definitive agreement, finalized on December 24, 2025, and announced shortly thereafter, is characterized by its scale and its unorthodox structure. Nvidia agreed to pay approximately $20 billion in cash to secure two primary assets: a perpetual, non-exclusive license to Groq’s entire patent portfolio and software stack, and the transfer of Groq’s founding leadership and core engineering team. [...] Nvidia explicitly avoided a full corporate merger. Instead, the deal is structured as a “license and talent transfer.” Under the terms, Nvidia receives a non-exclusive license to Groq’s technology, meaning Groq theoretically retains the right to license its IP to other parties. Simultaneously, Groq’s founder Jonathan Ross, President Sunny Madra, and approximately 80% of the engineering staff will terminate their employment with Groq and immediately join Nvidia. [...] The semiconductor landscape, the bedrock of the modern artificial intelligence revolution, experienced a seismic structural shift in late December 2025. Nvidia Corporation, the reigning hegemon of AI hardware with a market capitalization exceeding $4.6 trillion, announced a definitive agreement to enter into a strategic partnership with Groq, an AI chip startup renowned for its radical “Language Processing Unit” (LPU) architecture. While publicly framed as a non-exclusive technology licensing
- Nvidia's $20B Groq Deal: Strategy, LPU Tech & Antitrust | IntuitionLabs
On December 24, 2025 (Christmas Eve), multiple outlets reported that Nvidia had agreed to a landmark deal with Groq. The official arrangement was unusual: rather than a straight acquisition of the Groq corporate entity, Nvidia acquired Groq’s assets and licensed its inference technology, while also “acquihiring” the startup’s top leadership (( "Highlights: Nvidia has announced its largest,workloads compared to traditional GPUs")) (( "Highlights: Call it what you want,,agreement” without [...] Assets and IP License: Nvidia agreed to buy “most” of Groq’s AI chip assets for $20 billion in cash (( "Highlights: Nvidia has announced its largest,workloads compared to traditional GPUs")) (( "Highlights: Call it what you want,,agreement” without disclosing the price")). In parallel, Groq granted Nvidia a non-exclusive license to its inference technology (the LPU designs). This license means Groq could theoretically license the technology to others, but Nvidia’s exclusive backing and [...] | Nvidia | Groq (AI inference assets + team) | Dec 25, 2025 | Asset purchase + IP license + acquihire | $20.0B | Not a full merger; Groq remains independent; largest Nvidia deal ever (( "Highlights: applications,platform, GroqCloud, will continue operating")) (( "Highlights: Call it what you want,,agreement” without disclosing the price")) | | AMD | Xilinx (FPGA & adaptive SoC) | Feb 2022 | Full acquisition of company | $35.0B | Brought FPGA and embedded tech to AMD; deal closed late 2022 |
- Nvidia buying AI chip startup Groq for about $20 billion, biggest deal
Groq said in a blog post Wednesday that it's "entered into a non-exclusive licensing agreement with Nvidia for Groq's inference technology," without disclosing a price. With the deal, Groq founder and CEO Jonathan Ross along with Sunny Madra, the company's president, and other senior leaders "will join Nvidia to help advance and scale the licensed technology," the post said. Groq added that it will continue as an "independent company," led by finance chief Simon Edwards as CEO. [...] Nvidia is making its largest purchase ever, acquiring assets from 9-year-old chip startup Groq for about $20 billion. The company was founded by creators of Google's tensor processing unit, or TPU, which competes with Nvidia for artificial intelligence workloads. Groq, which was valued at $6.9 billion in a financing round in September, framed the deal as a "non-exclusive licensing agreement," with its CEO and other senior leaders joining Nvidia. In this article NVDA [...] Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT Jonathan Ross, chief executive officer of Groq Inc., during the GenAI Summit in San Francisco, California, US, on Thursday, May 30, 2024. David Paul | Bloomberg | Getty Images Nvidia has agreed to buy assets from Groq, a designer of high-performance artificial intelligence accelerator chips, for $20 billion in cash, according to Alex Davis, CEO of Disruptive, which led the startup's latest financing round in September.
- Groq and Nvidia Enter Non-Exclusive Inference ...
Today, Groq announced that it has entered into a non-exclusive licensing agreement with Nvidia for Groq’s inference technology. The agreement reflects a shared focus on expanding access to high-performance, low cost inference. As part of this agreement, Jonathan Ross, Groq’s Founder, Sunny Madra, Groq’s President, and other members of the Groq team will join Nvidia to help advance and scale the licensed technology.
- Nvidia: Implications Of The Groq Deal (NASDAQ:NVDA)
Nvidia Corporation announced a landmark $20B acquisition of AI start-up Groq, integrating its LPU technology and engineering talent. This deal directly challenges Google’s TPUs, positioning NVDA to dominate both AI training and inference with ultra-low-latency architecture. Integrating Groq’s LPUs into the 2026 Vera Rubin chips hedges against high bandwidth memory shortages and strengthens Nvidia's AI ecosystem moat. [...] Last week, it was reported that Nvidia Corporation (NVDA) will acquire AI chip start-up Groq for $20B that will see the GPU maker gain access to the firm's critical Language Processing Unit/LPU This article was written by The Asian Investor 31.17KFollowers I am interested in a lot of technology and AI stocks like Google, Nvidia, AMD, Tesla and Amazon.