Nvidia takes the model factory as Waymo brings the chip in-house
Nvidia is licensing Poolside’s model-building software and offering jobs to 109 staff, while Waymo is deploying its own robotaxi chip to lower costs and reduce hardware dependence.
Artificial Intelligence··Evening
Nvidia reaches for Poolside's model factory
According to a letter sent to investors, Nvidia will license Poolside's model-building software and offer jobs to the 109 people who worked on Laguna. The letter describes the arrangement as neither an acquisition nor a deal made solely to hire the team. Nvidia will also invest 1 billion dollars in Poolside, whose pre-money valuation is 12 billion dollars, while all three founders remain. Poolside plans to distribute the 6 billion dollars from the transaction to investors by the end of next year.[1]
Waymo designs the robotaxi chip itself
Waymo's in-house chip is manufactured by TSMC on a 5 nanometre process and delivers more than 1,000 TOPS, according to Bloomberg. Installed in the latest generation of vehicles, it processes sensor data and runs the models that allow a robotaxi to understand its surroundings. Waymo previously relied on Nvidia and AMD hardware for that work. The company expects its own chip to lower costs, and the new robotaxi developed with Zeekr carries the same component.[2]
Poolside awaits payment as the new robotaxi arrives
Poolside's three founders are staying while payments to investors are scheduled to be completed by the end of next year. Nvidia previously made comparable arrangements with Groq at 20 billion dollars and Enfabrica at 900 million dollars. At Waymo, the custom chip has moved beyond a future promise: the company says it is already used in the latest vehicles and is also installed in the new robotaxi developed with Zeekr. The stated commercial goal is to reduce the cost of sensor processing and model execution.[1], [2]
