Nvidia Commits $7 Billion to Poolside to Bolster Nemotron and Hedge GPU Demand
Updated
Updated · Wccftech · Aug 23
Nvidia Commits $7 Billion to Poolside to Bolster Nemotron and Hedge GPU Demand
3 articles · Updated · Wccftech · Aug 23
Summary
$7 billion in Poolside commitments gives Nvidia both licensed AI technology and a larger engineering bench, with $6 billion for technology and hires plus a $1 billion investment at a $12 billion valuation.
Nemotron is the immediate target: Nvidia wants Poolside's expertise to strengthen its open-weight models, counter Chinese AI labs and improve on Nemotron 3.5 Lightning, which it said generates tokens 4x faster but lifted agentic tasks only 30%.
The deal also serves as a demand hedge by letting Nvidia redirect more GPUs to internal model training if external orders weaken, pushing the company beyond selling AI hardware toward competing more directly with OpenAI and Anthropic.
That shift comes as Nvidia is reportedly preparing 15%-17% price increases for Grace Blackwell GPUs and Vera Rubin systems, even while some analysts have trimmed HBM demand forecasts and Sam Altman has warned AI adoption may unfold more slowly than expected.