AI startup Thinking Machines clinches capital and a major chip supply deal from Nvidia

Thinking Machines Lab said it has struck a multi-year ​partnership with Nvidia that will see it receive a significant investment ‌

AI startup Thinking Machines Lab said on Tuesday it has struck a multi-year ​partnership with Nvidia that will see it receive a significant investment ‌and procure at least one gigawatt of ​the chipmaker’s next-generation processors.

Financial terms of the deal ⁠were not disclosed.

Under the agreement, Thinking Machines, founded last year by former OpenAI Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati, will deploy Nvidia’s ‌upcoming Vera Rubin systems starting early next year. The computing power will primarily be ‌used to train the startup’s artificial intelligence models.

Industry executives ‌have ⁠said 1 gigawatt of computing power, enough to ⁠power roughly 750,000 U.S. homes, can cost around $50 billion.

The deal will help Thinking Machines compete with larger rivals in building powerful AI ​systems, and underscores the industry’s ‌eagerness to scale computing capacity.

Thinking Machines quickly became one of Silicon Valley’s most closely watched AI startups after raising about $2 billion in a seed funding round ‌led by Andreessen Horowitz that valued the company ​at $12 billion. Nvidia was also an investor in the round.