Nvidia to Pay $6 Billion for Poolside AI Software License

Poolside is an artificial-intelligence startup focused on model-development technology, including work tied to the open-source Laguna model. A closer relationship would give Nvidia greater exposure to the software and talent that drive demand for its chips, reinforcing the company’s push beyond hardware and deeper into the tools, infrastructure and developer ecosystem underpinning AI model creation.

As of Aug. 22, 2026, Nvidia was reported to be paying $6 billion to license Poolside’s model-development software and planning to hire 109 employees who worked on Laguna. Nvidia also intends to invest $1 billion in Poolside at a $12 billion valuation, providing the startup with additional funding to acquire computing hardware and advance development of its AI models.