AI Chip Startups Race to Raise Billions as Nvidia's Groq Deal Reshapes the Inference Market

Nvidia's roughly $20 billion licensing arrangement with inference specialist Groq has jolted the AI silicon sector, prompting a wave of startups to raise billions in fresh capital on renewed hopes for lucrative acquisitions and licensing deals. The transaction, disclosed on December 24, 2025, saw Nvidia take a non-exclusive license to Groq's inference technology while key personnel—including founder Jonathan Ross and president Sunny Madra—moved to the GPU giant, in a structure widely described as a "not-acqui-hire" rather than a conventional buyout.