Nvidia acquires SchedMD and launches Nemotron 3 to strengthen open-source AI infrastructure

Nvidia bulks up open source offerings with an acquisition and new open AI models | TechCrunch

Nvidia continues to expand its footprint in open source AI on two fronts: an acquisition and a new model release. The semiconductor giant announced Monday it acquired SchedMD, the leading developer of popular open source workload management system Slurm. Nvidia said the company will continue to operate the program, which is designed for high-performance computing and AI, as an open source, vendor-neutral software. Slurm was originally launched in 2002 and SchedMD was founded in 2010 by the lead Slurm developers Morris Jette and Danny Auble. Auble is the current CEO of SchedMD. Terms of the deal weren't disclosed. Nvidia declined to comment on the news beyond the company's blog post. Nvidia has been working with SchedMD for more than a decade and said in its blog post the technology is critical infrastructure for generative AI. The company plans to keep investing in the technology and "accelerate" its access to different systems. The semiconductor company also released a new family of open AI models on Monday. The company claimed this group of models, called Nvidia Nemotron 3, is the most "efficient family of open models" for building accurate AI agents. This model family includes the Nemotron 3 Nano, a small model for targeted tasks, the Nemotron 3 Super, a model built for multi-AI agent applications, and Nemotron 3 Ultra, built for more complicated tasks. "Open innovation is the foundation of AI progress," Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of Nvidia, wrote in the company's press release. "With Nemotron, we're transforming advanced AI into an open platform that gives developers the transparency and efficiency they need to build agentic systems at scale." In recent months, Nvidia has pushed to bolster its open source and open AI offerings. Last week, the company announced a new open reasoning vision language model, Alpamayo-R1, which is focused on autonomous driving research. The company also said at the time it added more workflows and guides covering its Cosmos world models, which are open source under a permissive license, to help developers better use the models to develop physical AI. The activity is reflective of Nvidia's bet that physical AI will be the next frontier for its GPUs. Nvidia wants to be the go-to supplier for the many robotics -- or self-driving vehicle -- companies looking for the AI and software to develop the brains behind the technology.

NVIDIA Acquires Open-Source Workload Management Provider SchedMD

NVIDIA will continue to distribute SchedMD's open-source, vendor-neutral Slurm software, ensuring wide availability for high-performance computing and AI. NVIDIA today announced it has acquired SchedMD -- the leading developer of Slurm, an open-source workload management system for high-performance computing (HPC) and AI -- to help strengthen the open-source software ecosystem and drive AI innovation for researchers, developers and enterprises. NVIDIA will continue to develop and distribute Slurm as open-source, vendor-neutral software, making it widely available to and supported by the broader HPC and AI community across diverse hardware and software environments. HPC and AI workloads involve complex computations running parallel tasks on clusters that require queuing, scheduling and allocating computational resources. As HPC and AI clusters get larger and more powerful, efficient resource utilization is critical. As the leading workload manager and job scheduler in scalability, throughput and complex policy management, Slurm is used in more than half of the top 10 and top 100 systems in the TOP500 list of supercomputers. Slurm, which is supported on the latest NVIDIA hardware, is also part of the critical infrastructure needed for generative AI, used by foundation model developers and AI builders to manage model training and inference needs. "We're thrilled to join forces with NVIDIA, as this acquisition is the ultimate validation of Slurm's critical role in the world's most demanding HPC and AI environments," said Danny Auble, CEO of SchedMD. "NVIDIA's deep expertise and investment in accelerated computing will enhance the development of Slurm -- which will continue to be open source -- to meet the demands of the next generation of AI and supercomputing." NVIDIA has been collaborating with SchedMD for over a decade and will continue investing in Slurm's development to ensure it remains the leading open-source scheduler for HPC and AI. NVIDIA will accelerate SchedMD's access to new systems -- allowing users of NVIDIA's accelerated computing platform to optimize workloads across their entire compute infrastructure -- while also supporting a diverse hardware and software ecosystem, so customers can run heterogeneous clusters with the latest Slurm innovations. NVIDIA will continue to offer open-source software support, training and development for Slurm to SchedMD's hundreds of customers, which include cloud providers, manufacturers, AI companies and research labs spanning industries such as autonomous driving, healthcare and life sciences, energy, financial services, manufacturing and government. Together with SchedMD, NVIDIA is bolstering the open-source software ecosystem to catalyze HPC and AI innovation across industries, at every scale.

Nvidia acquires Slurm developer SchedMD to enhance its software capabilities - SiliconANGLE

Nvidia acquires Slurm developer SchedMD to enhance its software capabilities Nvidia Corp. has acquired SchedMD LLC, a low-profile company that maintains one of the most important open-source tools in the machine learning ecosystem. The chipmaker announced the deal today. The financial terms were not disclosed. SchedMD was founded in 2010 by the developers of Slurm, an open-source platform for managing server clusters. The company provides professional services that help organizations use the software in production. Nvidia disclosed today that SchedMD has several hundred customers including government agencies, banks and healthcare organizations. Training a large language model on a single graphics card can be prohibitively time-consuming. As a result, companies spread their training workloads across a large number of GPUs, which makes it possible to perform calculations in parallel rather than one after another. That saves time, but creates a significant amount of complexity. When a training workload runs across multiple GPUs, developers must decide which chip should perform what sub-task. Assigning a sub-task to a busy chip can cause unnecessary training delays. There are also other challenges, such as the need to avoid situations where some GPUs are left underutilized. Slurm automates the task of determining which GPU should perform what task and when. Kubernetes, another popular open-source cluster management platform, provides a similar capability. But Slurm includes a number of specialized features that make it better suited to power artificial intelligence training workloads. One of Slurm's differentiators is that it's highly scalable: the platform can manage clusters with more than 100,000 GPUs. It also provides fine-grained customization options. If two workloads exchange data with one another on a regular basis, developers can have Slurm place them on adjacent servers to minimize the distance that data must travel. Kubernetes supports similar customization, but only if developers extend it with plug-ins. SchedMD helps organizations set up Slurm and customize it for their requirements. Once a deployment is live, the company provides ongoing support services that assist customers with tasks such as installing updates. SchedMD maintains not only Slurm but also another open-source project called Slinky. It enables companies to run Slurm on Kubernetes. That removes the need to run the two open-source platforms on separate clusters, which simplified day-to-day management. Additionally, consolidating servers into a single cluster can improve hardware utilization and thereby lower costs. Nvidia stated in today's acquisition announcement that Slurm will remain an open-source project following the deal. The chipmaker will continue developing the project and provide professional services to SchedMD's customers. Nvidia also announced plans to "accelerate SchedMD's access to new systems -- allowing users of NVIDIA's accelerated computing platform to optimize workloads across their entire compute infrastructure." That suggests the chipmaker may be planning to optimize Slurm for its upcoming Rubin graphics card series and Vera central processing units.

Nvidia acquires SchedMD and launches Nemotron 3

Nvidia announced on Monday its acquisition of SchedMD, developer of the open-source workload manager Slurm, and the release of a new family of open AI models called Nvidia Nemotron 3 to expand its open-source AI offerings. SchedMD serves as the leading developer of Slurm, a workload management system originally launched in 2002 and designed specifically for high-performance computing and artificial intelligence workloads. The company itself was founded in 2010 by Morris Jette and Danny Auble, the original lead developers of Slurm. Danny Auble currently holds the position of CEO at SchedMD. Nvidia stated that SchedMD will continue to operate Slurm as open-source and vendor-neutral software following the acquisition. The semiconductor company emphasized in its blog post that the technology qualifies as critical infrastructure for generative AI applications. Nvidia plans to maintain investments in Slurm and accelerate its accessibility across various systems. The two companies have collaborated for more than a decade prior to this deal. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed, and Nvidia declined to provide additional comments beyond its blog post. On the same day as the acquisition announcement, Nvidia introduced the Nemotron 3 family of open AI models. The company described this collection as the most efficient family of open models available for constructing accurate AI agents. The Nemotron 3 lineup consists of three distinct variants tailored to different use cases: Jensen Huang, Nvidia's founder and CEO, addressed the release in the company's press release. He wrote, "Open innovation is the foundation of AI progress. With Nemotron, we're transforming advanced AI into an open platform that gives developers the transparency and efficiency they need to build agentic systems at scale." In the preceding week, Nvidia announced Alpamayo-R1, a new open-reasoning vision language model centered on research for autonomous driving. At that time, the company also incorporated additional workflows and guides for its Cosmos world models. These Cosmos models operate under an open-source permissive license and assist developers in utilizing them to create physical AI. These developments form part of Nvidia's efforts in recent months to strengthen its open-source and open AI portfolio. The company positions itself as a primary supplier of AI and software to robotics and self-driving vehicle companies developing the core technologies for their systems.

Nvidia buys AI software provider SchedMD to expand open-source AI push

The chip designer built its reputation on speedy chips, but it also offers a range of its own AI models, from physics simulations to self-driving vehicles, as open-source software that researchers and companies can use. Nvidia said on Monday it acquired AI software firm SchedMD, as the chip designer doubles down on open-source technology and steps up investments in the artificial intelligence ecosystem to fend off rising competition. The chip designer built its reputation on speedy chips, but it also offers a range of its own AI models, from physics simulations to self-driving vehicles, as open-source software that researchers and companies can use. Its proprietary CUDA software, a standard among most developers, is a major selling point for its chips, making software key to maintaining its dominance in the AI industry. SchedMD provides software that helps schedule large computing jobs that can occupy a big share of a data center's server capacity. Its technology, called Slurm, is open source, meaning developers and firms can access it for free, while the company sells engineering and maintenance support. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Nvidia said it would continue to distribute SchedMD's software on an open-source basis. "Slurm, which is supported on the latest Nvidia hardware, is also part of the critical infrastructure needed for generative AI, used by foundation model developers and AI builders to manage model training and inference needs," Nvidia said in a statement. Earlier on Monday, Nvidia unveiled a new family of open-source AI models that it says will be faster, cheaper and smarter than its previous offerings, as it faces a growing wave of rival open-source models from Chinese AI labs. SchedMD was founded in 2010 by Slurm software developers Morris "Moe" Jette and Danny Auble in Livermore, California, and the company currently employs 40 people, according to its website. Its customers include cloud infrastructure firm CoreWeave and the Barcelona Supercomputing Center, among others.

Nvidia Acquires SchedMD to Support Open-Source Workload Management for AI | PYMNTS.com

By completing this form, you agree to receive marketing communications from PYMNTS and to the sharing of your information with our sponsor, if applicable, in accordance with our Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions. Slurm, a workload management system for high-performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence (AI), is used in more than half of the top 10 and top 100 systems in the TOP500 list of supercomputers, Nvidia said in a Monday (Dec. 15) blog post. The two companies have been collaborating for over a decade, according to the post. With the acquisition, Nvidia will continue to invest in Slurm's development "to ensure it remains the leading open-source scheduler for HPC and AI"; offer open-source software support, training and development for Slurm to SchedMD's customers; and develop and distribute Slurm as open-source, vendor-neutral software, while making it available to the broader HPC and AI community, according to the post. "Nvidia will accelerate SchedMD's access to new systems -- allowing users of Nvidia's accelerated computing platform to optimize workloads across their entire compute infrastructure -- while also supporting a diverse hardware and software ecosystem, so customers can run heterogeneous clusters with the latest Slurm innovations," Nvidia said in the post. SchedMD CEO Danny Auble said in the release that the acquisition demonstrates the importance of Slurm's role in demanding HPC and AI environments. "Nvidia's deep expertise and investment in accelerated computing will enhance the development of Slurm -- which will continue to be open source -- to meet the demands of the next generation of AI and supercomputing," Auble said. In an earlier transaction, Nvidia said in April 2024 that it planned to acquire Run:ai, a Kubernetes-based workload management and orchestration software provider. "Run:ai enables enterprise customers to manage and optimize their compute infrastructure, whether on premises, in the cloud or in hybrid environments," Nvidia said at the time in a blog post.

Nvidia buys AI software provider SchedMD to expand open-source AI push

Dec 15 (Reuters) - Nvidia said on Monday it acquired AI software firm SchedMD, as the chip designer doubles down on open-source technology and steps up investments in the artificial intelligence ecosystem to fend off rising competition. The chip designer built its reputation on speedy chips, but it also offers a range of its own AI models, from physics simulations to self-driving vehicles, as open-source software that researchers and companies can use. Its proprietary CUDA software, a standard among most developers, is a major selling point for its chips, making software key to maintaining its dominance in the AI industry. SchedMD provides software that helps schedule large computing jobs that can occupy a big share of a data center's server capacity. Its technology, called Slurm, is open source, meaning developers and firms can access it for free, while the company sells engineering and maintenance support. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Nvidia said it would continue to distribute SchedMD's software on an open-source basis. "Slurm, which is supported on the latest Nvidia hardware, is also part of the critical infrastructure needed for generative AI, used by foundation model developers and AI builders to manage model training and inference needs," Nvidia said in a statement. Earlier on Monday, Nvidia unveiled a new family of open-source AI models that it says will be faster, cheaper and smarter than its previous offerings, as it faces a growing wave of rival open-source models from Chinese AI labs. SchedMD was founded in 2010 by Slurm software developers Morris "Moe" Jette and Danny Auble in Livermore, California, and the company currently employs 40 people, according to its website. Its customers include cloud infrastructure firm CoreWeave and the Barcelona Supercomputing Center, among others. (Reporting by Arsheeya Bajwa in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid)