Nvidia's $6B Poolside Deal: AI Model Race Heats Up

Nvidia is making a significant move into the AI model race with a $6 billion deal involving AI startup Poolside. The company plans to license Poolside's technology and hire most of its engineers. Over 100 Poolside employees are expected to join Nvidia to work on Nemotron, the company's family of open-weight AI models. Nvidia will also invest an additional $1 billion in Poolside. This move aims to challenge existing players like OpenAI and DeepSeek. Poolside's founders believe artificial general intelligence should be open and built by many, not controlled by a few companies. Nvidia launched the Nemotron Coalition in March, bringing together companies working on open AI models. This strategy could allow Nvidia to compete with leading AI models in the coming year.