Oct 10 : Nvidia is in talks to deepen its investment in open-source startup Reflection AI or acquire it, the Financial Times reported on Saturday, citing people with direct knowledge of the matter.
• Talks are at an early stage and a deal could take several forms, including a so-called acqui-hire arrangement where Nvidia would hire staff and license technology rather than pursue a full acquisition, potentially avoiding a lengthy regulatory review, the newspaper said.
• An agreement could be reached in the coming weeks, according to the report, which cited multiple people familiar with the matter, while adding that the discussions could still fall apart.
• Reuters could not immediately verify the report. Nvidia and Reflection did not immediately respond to requests for comment outside of regular business hours.
• Nvidia is already a major financial backer and strategic investor in Reflection AI, having invested $800 million in the startup, the FT reported.
• Founded in 2024 by former DeepMind researchers Misha Laskin and Ioannis Antonoglou, Reflection develops tools that automate software development, a fast-growing use case for AI.
• Reflection’s chief executive, Laskin, told CNBC in April that the Nvidia-backed startup was raising fresh capital at a pre-money valuation of $25 billion.
• The company on Monday launched its first open-weight model, Beam, as it seeks to compete in coding and agentic tasks with lower-cost Chinese models such as DeepSeek and Kimi.
