After Nvidia’s $20B not-aqui-hire, AI chip startup Groq reportedly raising $650M - TechCrunch

Groq, an AI chip startup, is reportedly seeking to raise $650 million in new funding from its existing investors, according to sources familiar with the matter. The company intends to use the capital to expand its inference neocloud business, which provides cloud-based AI inference services using Groq's custom hardware. The reported round, if completed, would be one of the larger private placements in the AI chip sector this year.

In December, Groq struck a licensing agreement with Nvidia valued at approximately $20 billion. The deal was characterized as a "not-an-acquisition" and involved Nvidia licensing Groq's hardware technology rather than acquiring the company. The arrangement allowed Groq to remain independent while securing a significant financial infusion. Neither company has fully detailed the terms of the agreement.

The new fundraising follows that transaction and comes as demand for specialized inference infrastructure grows. Groq's neocloud offering aims to compete with other AI chip companies and cloud providers in the inference market. Inference refers to the process of running trained AI models, as opposed to training them. The company has not publicly commented on the reported funding round.