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.