Artificial intelligence computing giant Nvidia on Monday officially completed its acquisition of the Israeli AI infrastructure company Run:ai.
The $800 million deal, announced in April, received the green light from United States and European Union regulators, overcoming concerns raised during a U.S. Department of Justice antitrust investigation.
The delay proved fortuitous for Run:ai’s founders and employees, who will receive $200 million of the acquisition price in Nvidia shares. During the regulatory hold-up, Nvidia’s stock price soared by over 70%, effectively doubling the value of these shares. Investor returns on the deal may not have risen proportionately, due to typical deal-structuring mechanisms, but the retention bonuses for employees and founders gained significantly from the share-price surge, Globes reported.
Approximately 150 Run:ai employees will transition to Nvidia’s offices in Tel Aviv and Yokneam, bolstering Nvidia’s presence in Israel.
The acquisition aligns with Nvidia’s broader strategy to enhance its global development footprint, designating Israel as a key software development hub outside the United States, where Nvidia is based. This move follows Nvidia’s recent purchase of another Israeli AI startup, Deci AI, which has also been integrated into the expanded development center.
Run:ai’s technology optimizes operations on Nvidia’s graphics processors, reducing the need for additional hardware purchases. This capability reportedly raised antitrust concerns, with regulators questioning whether Nvidia intended to suppress a competitive technology. According to a report by Politico, the Department of Justice feared the acquisition might allow Nvidia to consolidate its dominance in the AI hardware market.
To alleviate these concerns, Nvidia reportedly emphasized its intent to make Run:ai’s platform widely accessible, including to competitors such as Intel and AMD. Run:ai’s services will also support customers using non-Nvidia cloud providers like Amazon, Google and Microsoft, in addition to Nvidia’s DGX cloud service.
