Run.ai software will be made open source in wake of Nvidia acquisition

Run:ai has confirmed its acquisition by Nvidia has been successful, adding that the chip giant plans to make its AI optimization tools open source so it can work across a wider variety of systems beyond Nvidia's own GPUs.

Founded in 2018, Run:ai develops software to help support AI infrastructure, building a platform on Kubernetes, the orchestration layer for much of the hardware that powers AI and the cloud.

Nvidia offered a reported $700 million for the startup in April, but the deal has faced regulatory scrutiny. Weeks after European regulators approved the deal, a blog post by Run:ai's founders has confirmed that the Nvidia acquisition is now complete.

"AI and accelerated computing are transforming the world at an unprecedented pace, and we believe this is just the beginning," said CTO Ronen Dar and CEO Omri Geller, the company's co-founders, in a blog post.

"GPUs and AI infrastructure will remain at the forefront of driving these transformative innovations and joining Nvidia provides us an extraordinary opportunity to carry forward a joint mission of helping humanity solve the world’s greatest challenges.

Run:ai says its software manages and optimizes the infrastructure that powers AI — whether in the cloud, on-premise, or a hybrid design — with the aim of boosting development, making best use of resources, and helping companies innovate in AI.

It allows AI developers to manage shared compute from a centralized interface, including pooling GPUs and applying them to different tasks, as well as managing users and their access.

"We will continue to help our customers to get the most out of their AI Infrastructure and offer the ecosystem maximum flexibility, efficiency and utilization for GPU systems, wherever they are: On-Prem, in the cloud through native solutions, or on Nvidia DGX Cloud, co-engineered with leading CSPs," they added.

Open source for open AI

At the time the deal was announced, Nvidia said it would continue to offer Run:ai's products under the same existing business model for the "immediate future".

At the moment, Run:ai's technology currently only works with Nvidia GPUs — but the acquisition is set to change that with Run:ai pledging to open source its software.

"While Run:ai currently supports only Nvidia GPUs, open sourcing the software will enable it to extend its availability to the entire AI ecosystem," the co-founders added.

"True to our open-platform philosophy, as part of Nvidia, we will keep empowering AI teams with the freedom to choose the tools, platforms, and frameworks that best suit their needs," they wrote.

"We will continue to strengthen our partnerships and work alongside the ecosystem to deliver a wide variety of AI solutions and platform choices."

Regulatory challenges

The deal was first announced in April, with Nvidia offering $700 million for the Israeli startup.

The European Commission examined the deal, citing antitrust concerns, but approved the acquisition in December on the grounds that Run:ai has "negligible" revenue so fails to meet necessary thresholds to take action.

The EC had been concerned that the deal would further cement Nvidia's dominance in the AI market. At present, Nvidia controls about 80% of the market for AI GPUs.