Nvidia’s Run:ai Acquisition Gets Approved By EU Regulator

The European Commission has ‘unconditionally’ approved Nvidia’s $700 million acquisition of GPU orchestration software startup Run:ai, which the company plans to use to boost its AI computing business, including the DGX Cloud platform.

The European Union’s antitrust regulator has “unconditionally” approved Nvidia’s acquisition of AI infrastructure management startup Run:ai.

The European Commission issued the decision Friday after launching an investigation in late October into the potential anti-competitive implications of Nvidia’s Run:ai deal, which the company announced in April to boost its AI computing business, including DGX Cloud.

“The Commission concluded that the transaction would raise no competition concerns in the European Economic Area,” the regulator said, adding that Run:ai’s “current revenues are negligible” and, as such, don’t reach the notification threshold for European Union merger rules.

The move was celebrated by Nvidia.

"We look forward to welcoming the talented Run:ai team to Nvidia,” a company spokesperson said in a statement to CRN.

Run:ai provides Kubernetes-based workload management and orchestration software for GPU-accelerated systems, which allows enterprise customers to “manage and optimize their compute infrastructure, whether on-premises, in the cloud or in hybrid environments,” according to a previous statement from Nvidia executive Alexis Bjorlin.

The European Commission said its investigation centered around whether Nvidia could use the acquisition, which was reportedly valued at $700 million, to “hamper the compatibility between its GPUs and the GPU orchestration software of Run:ai's competitors, and the compatibility between Run:ai's software and the GPUs of Nvidia's competitors.”

The regulator found that both outcomes weren’t likely to happen, despite Nvidia’s dominance in the AI computing market.

“Nvidia will have neither the technical ability nor the incentive to hamper the compatibility of its GPUs with competing GPU orchestration software due to the availability and widespread use of tools that ensure such compatibility, a point that has been confirmed by Run:ai's competitors,” the European Commission said.

Noting that Run:ai “does not have a significant position on the market for GPU orchestration software today,” the agency added that “customers will continue to have access to sufficient credible alternatives to Run:ai with similar advanced software features, as well as the possibility of building their GPU orchestration software in-house.”

When Nvidia announced the Run:ai acquisition, it said it would “continue to offer Run:ai’s products under the same business model for the immediate future” and invest in the business’ product road map, including enabling the software on the DGX Cloud platform.

The AI computing giant said customers using Nvidia HGX and DGX systems as well as DGX Cloud will “[have] access to Run:ai’s capabilities for their AI workloads.”

At the same time, the company said Nvidia and Run:ai will “continue to support a broad ecosystem of third-party solutions.”