The American multinational corporation and technology company Nvidia announced signing an agreement to acquire the Israeli workload management and orchestration software startup provider, Run:ai, on Wednesday.
According to Nvidia’s statement, in 2016, the company founded its first Israeli office, focusing on its startup program, Nvidia Inception. In 2018, it broadened its reach, opening an AI Research Center led by Prof. Gal Chechik, focusing on advanced AI and machine learning research.
In March 2019, Nvidia announced plans to acquire the Israeli company Mellanox Technologies, “a world leader in accelerated networking technologies,” for $6.9 billion US dollars. After the acquisition of Mellanox Technologies was finalized in 2020, Nvidia became one of Israel's largest high-tech employers.
In April 2024, the company announced plans to acquire Israeli startup Run:ai, known for its Kubernetes-based workload management software.
Tech innovations in Israel
In the statement, Nvidia claimed it had become a leading high-tech employer in Israel, promoting diversity and inclusion in their Israeli offices, as well as internationally. Cooperating with non-profits, Nvidia actively promoted the inclusion of underrepresented minorities in the high-tech industry through diverse recruitment efforts.
At Nvidia Israel, multiple product teams are “working on next-gen technologies in different fields.” Furthermore, the statement added that the company worked with the Israeli tech eco-system, “with nearly 1,000 Israeli startups taking part.” This program offers technology access, support, marketing assistance, and introductions to venture capitalists.
In May 2023, Nvidia announced its plans to construct Israel-1, the country's most powerful supercomputer.
According to the company’s statement, Israel-1 will serve as Nvidia's Ethernet-AI cloud architecture model and testbed for cooperative development with partners. It will be based on the locally developed Nvidia Spectrum-X Networking platform.
Its following phase “will expand” Nvidia's DGX Cloud AI supercomputing service reach to the region. By November 2023, Israel-1 had completed its initial phase and commenced R&D operations, marking a significant milestone in Nvidia's commitment to advancing AI infrastructure in Israel.