Nvidia Wins Central Processor Contract With Cloud Startup Modal

Nvidia secured a contract to provide its new Vera central processor chips to Modal, a cloud-computing startup that previously relied exclusively on hardware from Intel and AMD. Modal will integrate the Vera chips to host AI agents, with early testing indicating the hardware doubles the productivity of these systems.

While the transition to Nvidia's design requires significant software modifications, Modal will maintain a mixed hardware fleet. The company will continue using Intel and AMD chips to ensure the best-performing hardware is deployed for specific tasks. Erik Bernhardsson, the chief executive of Modal, confirmed the company will maintain this diversified approach.

Modal recently reached a valuation of $15.75 billion following a $750 million funding round led by Accel. The startup expects to record $1 billion in sales over the next year. Nvidia expects to generate at least $20 billion from Vera chip sales this fiscal year as it targets a market it values at approximately $200 billion. Other planned users of the Vera chip include OpenAI, Anthropic, Perplexity, and Oracle.