Nvidia Spends $900 Million to Bring Enfabrica CEO on Board and License AI Startup’s Breakthrough Tech
Nvidia has invested more than $900 million to bring in Enfabrica CEO Rochan Sankar along with several key employees, while also securing a license for the startup’s cutting-edge technology. The deal, completed last week, combines cash and stock compensation, according to people familiar with the matter.
This move mirrors similar AI talent acquisitions made recently by Google, Meta, Amazon, and Microsoft, all of which have been racing to secure top engineers and researchers through so-called “acquihire” deals.
Why Enfabrica Matters
Founded in 2019, Enfabrica developed technology capable of connecting over 100,000 GPUs together, enabling massive computing clusters to function as a single, unified system. This innovation could strengthen Nvidia’s ability to deliver integrated AI supercomputing solutions powered by its chips.
Nvidia’s GPUs, such as the widely adopted A100 and its successors, have already become the backbone of the global AI boom, powering large language models and AI cloud services. But with AI workloads growing, scalable interconnect solutions like Enfabrica’s are increasingly critical.
Growing AI Arms Race
While Nvidia’s past AI chips were single-server processors, its latest systems come in racks featuring 72 GPUs working in unison—the kind of advanced hardware already powering multi-billion-dollar data centers, such as Microsoft’s $4B facility in Wisconsin.
Nvidia was already an investor in Enfabrica, having participated in its $125 million Series B funding round in 2023, followed by a $115 million round in 2024 backed by Spark Capital, Samsung, Cisco, and others. PitchBook data valued the company at around $600 million after the most recent raise.
By securing Enfabrica’s technology and leadership talent, Nvidia joins other tech giants in aggressively expanding their AI portfolios. Meta recently spent $14.3 billion to hire Scale AI’s founder Alexandr Wang, while Google acquired Windsurf’s R&D team in a $2.4 billion deal. Amazon and Microsoft have also made similar moves, onboarding AI startup founders and engineering teams through licensing-driven agreements.
Nvidia’s Bigger Picture
Historically, Nvidia has been selective with acquisitions. Its most notable purchase was Mellanox in 2019 for $6.9 billion, a deal that now powers much of its Blackwell AI product line. Attempts to acquire chip designer Arm fell apart in 2022 amid regulatory hurdles. More recently, Nvidia completed a $700 million acquisition of Run:ai, an Israeli AI infrastructure startup.
This week, Nvidia revealed one of its boldest investment pushes yet: a $5 billion stake in Intel to co-develop AI processors, along with a $700 million investment in U.K. data center startup Nscale.
The $900 million deal with Enfabrica underscores how Nvidia is evolving beyond just GPU manufacturing—into becoming a full-stack AI infrastructure powerhouse.
