Groq launches developer playground GroqCloud with newly acquired Definitive Intelligence

Groq, the Mountain View, California-based startup that caught the attention of the AI community with its own microchips designed specifically to run large language models (LLMs) quickly and efficiently, is making more waves this week.

Today, it announced the acquisition of another startup, Definitive Intelligence, and a new product built atop their prior and ongoing collaboration: GroqCloud, what the two joined companies now describe as a “developer playground with fully integrated documentation, code samples and self-serve access.”

The big sell: LPU access for running AI inferences

But the big sell of the GroqCloud is probably what it allows AI developer users to access: the Groq Language Processing Unit (LPU) Inference Engine.

Groq’s LPUs have recently enjoyed viral attention from AI developers for delivering near-instantaneous results, propelling Groq into the spotlight even as rival Nvidia’s earnings have surged to new heights based on the strength of demand for the latter’s graphics processing units (GPUs).

But GPUs, as the name indicates, were designed to render computer graphics — originally for games and multimedia software, but in the last several decades, AI applications. Yet they had not been, until recently, dedicated to this task. As VentureBeat previously reported, Groq CEO and founder Jonathan Ross — previously a creator of Google’s Tensor Processing Unit (TPU) — believes that Groq’s purpose-built LPUs will ultimately come to lead the market, soon.

“We are probably going to be the infrastructure that most startups are using by the end of the year,” he told my colleague Sharon Goldman just last week, citing the significant cost advantages and superior performance of their LPUs over Nvidia’s GPUs.

Soft launched with strong initial uptake

GroqCloud soft launched on Feb. 19 and has already seen thousands of developers using it to leverage LPUs for their machine learning (ML) applications and inferences (running AI models for users rather than training), but now it is opening to the public.

“At Groq, we’re committed to creating an AI economy that’s accessible and affordable for anyone with a brilliant idea,” Ross remarked in a press release.

Building up Groq’s capabilities to take on Nvidia

Sunny Madra, Definitive Intelligence’s co-founder and CEO, expressed his excitement about joining forces with Groq.

“At Groq, we’re giving developers the speed, low latency, and efficiency they need to deliver on the generative AI promise,” Madra stated in the same release, underscoring the transformative capabilities of Groq’s technology.

The acquisition also facilitated the establishment of a Groq Systems business unit, focusing on innovation and catering to the needs of the public sector and customers requiring advanced AI computing solutions. This strategic division aims to accelerate Groq’s innovation, reinforcing its commitment to leading the AI chip industry.

With a focus on enhancing developer access to cutting-edge AI capabilities and challenging the status quo, Groq is not just competing in the AI chip race—it’s designing a future where AI technology is more accessible, efficient, and transformative.