# Groq raises $650m, pivots from chips to an inference cloud
> After Nvidia licensed its LPU IP and poached its founders, Groq re-staffs and bets on neocloud capacity

**Meta:** type: story · date: 2026-06-22 · heads: أموال من, ما الذي تعطّل · 1 takes · 1 lenses · 1 regions

## Summary

AI-chip company Groq confirmed a $650m funding round led by Disruptive and Infinitum, TechCrunch reported, as it re-staffs and reinvents itself as an inference cloud operator. The raise follows [Nvidia](/ar/entity/nvidia)'s December 2025 non-exclusive licensing of Groq's LPU technology, a roughly $20bn arrangement that took founder Jonathan Ross and president Sunny Madra to Nvidia. Groq named Alan Rice, ex-xAI and Meta, as COO and added a new CTO and CPO. It now runs 13 data centers across four regions and aims to quadruple capacity to 200MW by end-2027, serving inference demand that vendors like [Openai](/ar/entity/openai) are racing to lock down.

## Why it matters

Groq's story is what happens after a "non-acquisition": Nvidia took the IP and the founders, leaving Groq to compete in inference using technology its largest rival now owns. The pivot from selling chips to renting compute mirrors a wider shift where inference capacity, not silicon design, is the scarce asset.

## What to watch

- Whether Groq hits the 200MW target on schedule.
- How its neocloud margins hold against hyperscaler pricing.
- Whether Nvidia's LPU license erodes Groq's technical edge.

## Regional takes (batched by bias / lens)

### tech / venture
- **TechCrunch** (United States, en) — Confirms Groq's $650m round led by Disruptive and Infinitum, the re-staffing after Nvidia's December $20bn licensing deal pulled founders Jonathan Ross and Sunny Madra, and the pivot to a neocloud inference business running 13 data centers, targeting 200MW of capacity by end-2027.
  > "Groq's viability now turns on whether its inference cloud can hold up once Nvidia owns the LPU hardware IP that defined it."
  Source: https://techcrunch.com/2026/06/22/ai-chipmaker-groq-confirms-650m-raise-re-staffs-after-nvidias-20b-not-acqui-hire-deal/

## Across the graph
- Related: [[cerebras-openai-750mw-2026]], [[nvidia-amd-openai-6gw-mi450]]
- Entities: Nvidia, Openai

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Canonical: https://rbtfl.xyz/ar/n/groq-650m-inference-pivot-2026