Nvidia is holding advanced talks to acquire large language model (LLM) startup AI21 Labs for up to $2 billion to $3 billion, SiliconANGLE reported on Dec. 31, citing Israeli outlet Calcalist.
If the acquisition goes through, AI21 Labs' valuation would rise more than two-fold from last year. Nvidia took part in AI21 Labs' investment round last year.
AI21 Labs is posting about $50 million in annualised revenue.
AI21 Labs developed an open-source LLM called Jamba. Jamba processes data 2.5 times faster than existing algorithms, SiliconANGLE reported, attributing the gain to optimised memory use by combining transformer models with a neural network architecture called Mamba.
AI21 Labs supports companies in easily building and managing AI agents through paid software called Maestro.
Nvidia is seen acquiring AI21 Labs and integrating Maestro into its AI software suite, Nvidia AI Enterprise. Nvidia AI Enterprise supports researchers in easily building customised AI models, including LLMs and development tools.
Chi-gyu Hwang
delight@d-today.co.kr