Groq, a startup that previously focused on building AI chips, has raised $350 million to transition into a neocloud company offering GPU and AI infrastructure services. The funding, led by Disruptive with participation from Nvidia, values the company at $3.5 billion, down from its previous valuation of $6.9 billion. Groq’s shift comes after losing key talent to Nvidia, including its founder and CEO, Jonathan Ross, as part of a $20 billion licensing deal. The company now operates 13 data centers globally, serving over 6 million developers and enterprises.
The new capital will support Groq’s expansion to more than 200 megawatts of power capacity by 2027 and its efforts to provide Nvidia-powered AI infrastructure for training and inference. Alex Davis, chairman and CEO of Disruptive, stated that Groq aims to become the world’s leading AI inference cloud. Inference is expected to be a critical layer of AI infrastructure as enterprises scale their AI workloads. However, the long-term profitability of neoclouds remains uncertain, with investors concerned about high capital costs and hardware depreciation.
Groq’s pivot places it within Nvidia’s AI infrastructure ecosystem, a common trend among neocloud providers. Nvidia supplies GPUs to companies like CoreWeave, Lambda, and Nebius while also investing in their growth. TechCrunch has reached out to Groq for additional information. Source: techcrunch
