Nvidia 20B Groq Grab, Inference Monopoly Coup

● Nvidia 20B Groq Grab, Inference Power Coup

Wow, a really huge event has exploded. A piece of news too massive to be just a gift has arrived on Christmas Eve. It’s the news that Nvidia is acquiring AI chip startup ‘Groq’ for a whopping 20 billion dollars (approx. 28 trillion KRW).

Before you read this, let me tell you in advance. Today’s content is not just simple M&A news.1) Why Nvidia is targeting the ‘Inference’ market right now,2) What kind of disaster this will be for AMD, Intel, and Big Tech companies,3) And the hidden connection with the ‘Rubin’ architecture that other news doesn’t cover well, I’ll break it all down for you thoroughly.

If you read just this one article, you’ll immediately visualize how the semiconductor market will flow in 2026. Alright, let’s get started.

Nvidia’s 20 Billion Dollar Christmas Coup: Monopolizing Even the AI Inference Market with Groq Acquisition

1. The Full Story: Not a Simple Acquisition but a Declaration of ‘Market Endgame’

On December 24, 2025, Silicon Valley flipped upside down. News leaked that Nvidia had reached a final agreement to acquire AI chip startup Groq.

This is shocking because it is the largest acquisition in Nvidia’s history. When they bought Mellanox for 6.9 billion dollars in the past, it was considered huge, but this time they are shooting 20 billion dollars entirely in cash, which is three times that amount.

The core point is just one thing. They want to take the LPU (Language Processing Unit) technology that Groq possesses.

Until now, Nvidia has had a tight grip on the market for ‘Training’ AI models, right? But now, the market landscape is shifting from training to the ‘Inference’ stage, where AI is actually run. Nvidia intends to completely end the market by cutting off any sprouts of competition at this timing and absorbing the ‘Ultra-low-latency’ technology, which was their weakness.

2. Why ‘Groq’? : Going Beyond the Limits of GPUs

Here, let me briefly point out the technical context. The Nvidia GPUs we commonly know are strong in parallel processing, so they are the best for AI training. However, in the ‘Inference’ area, such as AI agents or chatbots that need to answer in real-time, speed (latency) has always been a problem.

But Groq’s LPU is different. It was designed for language models from the start, showing up to 5 times faster and more immediate responses than existing GPUs.

Throughout 2025, Groq was called the “Inference King” and received love calls from Big Tech companies like Amazon and Google. Rumors actually circulated that Amazon and Google were reviewing an acquisition, but brother Jensen Huang snatched them up with a preemptive strike on Christmas Eve.

Ultimately, Nvidia has completed a ‘Lock-in’ strategy that forces developers not to take a single step out of the Nvidia ecosystem by making them handle training with Blackwell and actual deployment with Groq-based modules.

3. Winners and Losers: The Nightmare Facing Intel and AMD

If this deal goes through, only Nvidia will be laughing.

The ones taking the biggest hit are AMD and Intel. These two companies survived 2025 by shouting, “Nvidia GPUs are too expensive and for training; for inference, our chips (MI350, Gaudi 3) have good cost-effectiveness!”

But now Nvidia has eaten up Groq, which has the world’s fastest inference technology? Now, the gap for AMD and Intel to squeeze into has almost disappeared. There is a high possibility that the ‘cost-effectiveness’ strategy will become useless in front of Nvidia’s overwhelming ‘Performance + Ecosystem’.

Hyperscalers like Google and Amazon also have a headache. They are making their own chips (TPU, Inferentia), but if customers say, “We want to use the fastest Nvidia-Groq system,” they have no choice but to cry and eat mustard while continuing to pay the expensive ‘Nvidia Tax’.

4. [Key Takeaway Insight] The Real Reason Others Don’t Talk About: ‘Rubin’ and ASI

This is where the real important content begins. Did they spend 20 billion dollars simply to increase market share? No.

Nvidia is currently preparing for the ‘Rubin’ architecture and the coming era of Artificial Super Intelligence (ASI).

Future AI must think and react in real-time like a human. At this time, the most important metric is ‘Time-to-first-token’, which determines how quickly the AI opens its mouth.

Groq’s technology can drastically reduce this time. Nvidia plans to integrate Groq’s technology into the Rubin R100 platform coming out in 2026, saying, “From training to high-speed real-time conversation, you just need to buy one of our racks.”

This is not simple component sales, but hides a terrifying ambition to dominate the entire ‘Execution Layer’ of AI data centers.

5. Remaining Variables: Can They Avoid the Blade of Regulation?

Of course, it’s not 100% confirmed. Since it’s a 20 billion dollar deal, scrutiny from regulatory authorities awaits.

The US FTC might let it pass to protect domestic technology, but China and Europe (EU) are the problems. Especially China has a very high possibility of not approving this merger or tackling it in retaliation for US semiconductor sanctions.

However, Nvidia used a trick (?) this time by excluding Groq’s ‘Cloud Business Sector’ from the acquisition and leaving it as an independent entity. It is a strategic move to avoid monopoly controversy by avoiding a picture of direct competition with client companies like Amazon or Google.

< Summary >

Massive Deal: Nvidia acquires AI inference chip startup ‘Groq’ for 20 billion dollars (cash).
Strategic Goal: At the point where the AI market shifts from ‘training’ to ‘inference’, they absorb the strongest competitor and secure technological superiority.
Market Impact: AMD and Intel’s strategy of ‘targeting the inference chip niche market’ takes a fatal blow. Nvidia’s monopoly power is further strengthened.
Hidden Intention: A plan to completely dominate the coming ASI (Artificial Super Intelligence) infrastructure market by combining Groq’s ultra-low-latency technology with the next-generation ‘Rubin’ architecture.
Risk: Antitrust reviews by global regulatory authorities such as China and the EU remain the biggest variable.

*Source: https://markets.financialcontent.com/wral/article/marketminute-2025-12-24-nvidias-20-billion-christmas-eve-coup-acquiring-groq-to-solidify-dominance-in-the-ai-inference-era?utm_source=perplexity

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