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Nvidia Completes Acquisition of Toronto AI Startup CentML

The agreement integrates CentML’s leadership team into Nvidia’s AI software division ahead of the startup’s July 17 service shutdown.

Overview

  • Nvidia completed the acquisition of Toronto-based CentML on June 27, hiring CEO Gennady Pekhimenko as a senior director of AI software and integrating CTO Sam Wang, COO Akbar Nurlybayev, 15 engineers, and two interns into its ranks.
  • CentML will formally cease operations and discontinue its AI-optimization platform on July 17, ending customer access to its compiler-based services.
  • Financial terms of the deal remain undisclosed after Nvidia declined to comment, though CentML had raised US$30.9 million in venture funding including Nvidia’s US$27 million seed round in October 2023.
  • An organizational restructuring led to the elimination of some CentML roles, with sales and other positions cut prior to the talent integration.
  • The acquisition underscores Nvidia’s strategy of bolstering its AI hardware and software ecosystem through targeted startup buyouts and earlier accelerator partnerships.