Nvidia has entered into a strategic licensing agreement with artificial intelligence startup Groq, alongside hiring several of its senior executives, marking another high-profile Big Tech-style talent and technology deal. The development was confirmed by Groq in a blog post on Wednesday and later reported by Reuters.

Under the agreement, Nvidia will license Groq’s chip technology on a non-exclusive basis, allowing the AI giant to strengthen its position in the rapidly growing inference segment of artificial intelligence. Inference focuses on generating real-time responses from already trained models-an area where Nvidia faces increasing competition from rivals such as AMD and emerging startups like Groq and Cerebras Systems.

As part of the deal, Groq founder Jonathan Ross, a former Google executive who played a key role in launching Alphabet’s AI chip initiatives, will join Nvidia. He will be accompanied by Groq president Sunny Madra and several members of the startup’s engineering team. While the financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed, a source close to Nvidia confirmed the licensing arrangement.

Despite the executive movement, Groq emphasized that it will continue to operate independently. Simon Edwards will remain its chief executive, and the company’s cloud business will function as usual. CNBC had earlier reported that Nvidia was in talks to acquire Groq for $20 billion in cash, but both companies declined to comment on the acquisition claim.

The deal reflects a growing trend among major technology firms to secure cutting-edge AI talent and technology through licensing and hiring agreements rather than outright acquisitions. Similar arrangements include Microsoft’s $650 million AI licensing deal, Meta’s $15 billion agreement involving Scale AI leadership, and Amazon’s hiring of Adept AI founders. While such deals have attracted regulatory attention, none have been rolled back so far.