According to The Information, citing sources familiar with the matter, Nvidia has completed its acquisition of Lepton AI, a startup founded by renowned AI expert and former Alibaba vice president, Yangqing Jia. The deal is reportedly worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

Lepton AI, founded in 2023, positions itself as an AI infrastructure company focusing on providing efficient cloud solutions for startups. Its core business involves renting Nvidia GPU servers and developing supporting software to help clients build, manage, and optimize AI applications in the cloud. Currently, Lepton AI has a relatively small team of about 20 employees, but its technological capabilities and market potential have attracted industry attention.

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Image Source Note: Image generated by AI, licensed through Midjourney.

Sources reveal that Lepton AI's co-founders, Yangqing Jia and Junjie Bai, have joined Nvidia. Jia is a prominent figure in the AI field, having participated in the development of the TensorFlow framework at Google before joining Alibaba as vice president, overseeing big data and AI technology research and development. After leaving Alibaba in 2023, he co-founded Lepton AI with Bai, aiming to simplify AI infrastructure deployment and lower the barrier to entry for startups in the AI market. Within months of its founding, Lepton AI secured $11 million (approximately ¥79 million RMB) in angel funding in May 2023, demonstrating investor confidence in its business model.

This acquisition is considered a significant step in Nvidia's AI ecosystem strategy. As the global leader in the GPU market, Nvidia has been steadily increasing its investment in AI infrastructure and cloud services. The addition of Lepton AI brings Jia's team's extensive experience in GPU server rentals and AI software development, further strengthening Nvidia's competitiveness in the cloud AI computing market. Industry analysts believe Lepton AI's technology may be integrated into Nvidia's DGX Cloud or other cloud service product lines, providing clients with more flexible and efficient AI development tools.

For Lepton AI, this acquisition offers a broader platform for growth. Leveraging Nvidia's resources and technological support, Jia's team can accelerate innovation in AI infrastructure and help more companies achieve AI-driven business transformation. This deal also reflects the current wave of mergers and acquisitions in the AI industry, with giants rapidly acquiring startups to absorb talent and technology and gain a market advantage.