Nvidia Acquires Synthetic Data Startup Gretel for Over $320 Million to Boost AI Training Capabilities

Nvidia reportedly acquires synthetic data startup Gretel | TechCrunch

Nvidia has reportedly acquired Gretel, a San Diego-based startup that's developed a platform to generate synthetic AI training data. Terms of the acquisition are unknown. The price tag was said to be nine figures, exceeding Gretel's most recent valuation of $320 million, according to Wired. Gretel and its team of roughly 80 employees will be folded into Nvidia, where its tech will be deployed as part of the former's suit of generative AI services for developers, Wired reported. Gretel was founded in 2019 by Alex Watson, Laszlo Bock, John Myers, and Ali Golshan, who also serves as the company's CEO. The startup fine-tunes models, adds proprietary tech on top, and then packages these models together to sell them. Gretel raised more than $67 million in venture capital from investors including Anthos Capital, Greylock, and Moonshots Capital prior to its exit, according to Crunchbase. Nvidia's acquisition is strategic -- and timely. Tech giants like Microsoft, Meta, OpenAI, and Anthropic are already using synthetic data to train flagship AI models as they exhaust sources of real-world data.

Nvidia Bets Big on Synthetic Data

Nvidia has acquired synthetic data startup Gretel to bolster the AI training data used by the chip maker's customers and developers. Nvidia has acquired synthetic data firm Gretel for nine figures, according to two people with direct knowledge of the deal. The acquisition price exceeds Gretel's most recent valuation of $320 million, the sources say, though the exact terms of the purchase remain unknown. Gretel and its team of approximately 80 employees will be folded into Nvidia, where its technology will be deployed as part of the chip giant's growing suite of cloud-based, generative AI services for developers. The acquisition comes as Nvidia has been rolling out synthetic data generation tools, so that developers can train their own AI models and fine-tune them for specific apps. In theory, synthetic data could create a near-infinite supply of AI training data and help solve the data scarcity problem that has been looming over the AI industry since ChatGPT went mainstream in 2022 -- although experts say using synthetic data in generative AI comes with its own risks. A spokesperson for Nvidia declined to comment. Gretel was founded in 2019 by Alex Watson, John Myers, and Ali Golshan, who also serves as CEO. The startup offers a synthetic data platform and a suite of APIs to developers who want to build generative AI models, but don't have access to enough training data or have privacy concerns around using real people's data. Gretel doesn't build and license its own frontier AI models, but fine-tunes existing open source models to add differential privacy and safety features, then packages those together to sell them. The company raised more than $67 million in venture capital funding prior to the acquisition, according to Pitchbook. Gretel also did not immediately respond to a request for comment from WIRED. Unlike human-generated or real-world data, synthetic data is computer-generated and designed to mimic real-world data. Proponents say this makes the data generation required to build AI models more scalable, less labor intensive, and more accessible to smaller or less-resourced AI developers. Privacy-protection is another key selling point of synthetic data, making it an appealing option for health care providers, banks, and government agencies. Nvidia has already been offering synthetic data tools for developers for years. In 2022 it launched Omniverse Replicator, which gives developers the ability to generate custom, physically accurate, synthetic 3D data to train neural networks. Last June, Nvidia began rolling out a family of open AI models that generate synthetic training data for developers to use in building or fine-tuning LLMs. Called Nemotron-4 340B, these mini-models can be used by developers to drum up synthetic data for their own LLMs across "health care, finance, manufacturing, retail, and every other industry." During his keynote presentation at Nvidia's annual developer conference this Tuesday, Nvidia cofounder and chief executive Jensen Huang spoke about the challenges the industry faces in rapidly scaling AI in a cost-effective way. "There are three problems that we focus on," he said. "One, how do you solve the data problem? How and where do you create the data necessary to train the AI? Two, what's the model architecture? And then three, what are the scaling laws?" Huang went on to describe how the company is now using synthetic data generation in its robotics platforms.

Nvidia Reportedly Bought a Synthetic Data Firm. So What's Synthetic Data?

Expertise Energy, Solar Power, Renewable Energy, Climate Issues, Virtual Power Plants, Grid Infrastructure, Electric Vehicles, Plug-in Hybrids, Energy-Savings Tips, Smart Thermostats, Portable Power Stations, Home Battery Solutions, EV Charging Infrastructure, Home Chipmaker Nvidia is leaning further into producing tools for generative AI developers with the acquisition of synthetic data firm Gretel for more than $320 million, according to a report from Wired on Wednesday. The move comes as generative AI firms struggle to find enough data to train and improve their models, increasing the need to generate data. According to the report, Gretel's employees will be folded into Nvidia. Gretel, which produces synthetic or simulated data for AI model training, will bolster Nvidia's offerings for AI developers. An Nvidia spokesperson declined to comment on the report. Training generative AI models like OpenAI's ChatGPT, a large language model, requires a lot of data. Real-world data can pose problems for AI developers -- namely, it can be noisy, and there isn't enough. AI firms are running up against the limit of training data that is freely available to them, leading to conflicts over whether they can use copyrighted content. Hundreds of actors, writers and directors submitted an open letter to the Trump administration's Office of Science and Technology Policy to raise their concerns about the use of copyrighted data. Currently, OpenAI is petitioning the government to allow greater access to copyrighted material to train AI models, or else American companies will be left behind by China. Synthetic data also has value in protecting private information. Gretel says its synthetic data can be used to train models and tools without exposing sensitive or personal information -- for example, health care data that doesn't identify individual people and potentially violates privacy laws. There are concerns about using such data in model training. An overreliance on information that isn't rooted in reality can increase the likelihood that a model will get things wrong. If the problem gets bad enough, it can cause a problem known as model collapse, when the model becomes so inaccurate that it becomes useless.

Nvidia reportedly acquires Gretel for $320M+ to strengthen AI training tools - SiliconANGLE

Nvidia reportedly acquires Gretel for $320M+ to strengthen AI training tools Nvidia Corp. has reportedly acquired Gretel Labs Inc., a synthetic data platform startup that helps developers and organizations generate artificial datasets that mirror the characteristics of real data for use in artificial intelligence models. Wired, referencing "two people with direct knowledge of the deal," said the price paid for Gretel by Nvidia came in at nine figures and was higher than the $320 million at which Gretel was most recently valued. Founded in 2019, Gretel offers a synthetic data platform that allows organizations to generate realistic, privacy-preserving datasets for AI and machine learning applications. The platform leverages advanced generative models to create artificial data that retains the statistical properties of real-world datasets while ensuring data privacy. Gretel's platform supports various data types, including structured tabular data, time-series data and unstructured text, which allow companies to safely share, analyze and develop AI models without exposing sensitive or proprietary information. The company also offers an application programming interface that allows for integration into existing workflows, allowing developers to generate and customize synthetic datasets on demand. Users can also fine-tune the balance between data fidelity and anonymization, all while being guided by built-in privacy controls. Beyond data generation, Gretel supports transformation and augmentation workflows that allow users to enhance, filter and reshape datasets to fit specific use cases. Coming into its reported acquisition, Gretel had raised $65.5 million over three rounds, including a round of $50 million in 2021. Investors in the company include Anthos Capital LP, Greylock, Moonshots Capital, S32 Pty. Ltd. and Village Global LP. Nvidia's decision to acquire Gretel, presuming the acquisition report is correct, aligns with its strategy to enhance AI development by addressing data scarcity and privacy challenges. With Gretel, Nvidia will offer developers tools for generating realistic, privacy-preserving datasets as well as training and fine-tuning AI models across various applications. The acquisition will also complement Nvidia's existing synthetic data initiatives, which are designed to generate synthetic data for training large language models.

Nvidia Acquires Synthetic Data Firm Gretel To Train AI Models: Report - NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA)

Join Nic Chahine live on Wednesday, March 19, at 6 PM ET for a step-by-step breakdown of how to to capitalize on post-Fed volatility and manage risk in this fast-moving market. Register for this free strategy session today. On Wednesday, Nvidia NVDA completed the acquisition of Gretel, a synthetic data startup. According to a Wired report, the deal is valued over Gretel's recent valuation of $320 million. The exact financial terms of the purchase were not undisclosed. The acquisition marks an expansion for Nvidia as it integrates Gretel's team and technology into its growing portfolio of cloud-based AI services, according to Wired. Also Read: NVIDIA And Elon Musk's xAI Join BlackRock, Microsoft Led AI Infrastructure Partnership Founded in 2020, Gretel is the generative AI platform for creating synthetic text, tabular, and time series data that includes tunable mathematically proven privacy and accuracy settings. Developers use Gretel to create artificial, privacy-enhanced versions of their sensitive data and to quickly generate new labeled samples to augment limited machine learning training datasets, all on-demand. Gretel employs approximately 80 people and will enhance Nvidia's generative AI tools, particularly for developers creating AI models. In December 2023, Gretel announced a partnership with Microsoft MSFT Azure and joined the Microsoft for Startups Pegasus Program. The report mentioned that Nvidia has incorporated synthetic data tools into its product lineup, such as the Omniverse Replicator platform, which debuted in 2022. On Wednesday, Nvidia launched several new products at the GTC event, including Blackwell Ultra, Rubin, and co-packaged optics technology that enables data centers to deploy more GPUs. Nvidia has consistently achieved approximately a fourfold boost in AI computing power with each generation, from Hopper in 2022 to Blackwell in 2024, and the expected Rubin in 2026. Additionally, NVIDIA unveiled a range of technologies aimed at advancing humanoid robot development, featuring the NVIDIA Isaac GR00T N1, the first fully open and customizable foundation model designed for general humanoid reasoning and skills. Furthermore, Nvidia launched the Nemotron-4 340B mini-models, designed to produce synthetic data for multiple sectors. Synthetic data created through computer simulations or generative AI models can help overcome these challenges. It includes text, videos, and images in both visual and non-visual formats, and can be combined with real-world data to train AI models more efficiently and affordably. Price Action: NVDA shares traded lower by 0.06% at $117.45 in the premarket session at last check on Thursday. Read Next: SoundHound AI Integrates NVIDIA's Software To Accelerate Voice AI Technologies Image via Shutterstock NVDANVIDIA Corp$117.41-0.09%Stock Score Locked: Want to See it? Benzinga Rankings give you vital metrics on any stock - anytime. Reveal Full ScoreEdge RankingsMomentum80.87Growth88.51Quality97.18Value7.32Price TrendShortMediumLongOverviewMSFTMicrosoft Corp$386.40-0.37% This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors. Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

Nvidia Buys Synthetic Data Startup Gretel To Boost AI, LLMs: Report

Here's what you need to know about synthetic AI data startup Gretel, which Nvidia reportedly just acquired for over $320 million. Gretel has formed big partnerships with the likes of Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud and Microsoft, while at the same time raising approximately $65 million over the past five years. Nvidia completed the acquisition of San Diego, Calif.-based Gretel on March 19, according to a report by Wired, with the deal valued at over $320 million. The exact financial terms of the deal were unknown. The synthetic data platform startup has around 80 employees and was founded by a group engineers and developers with backgrounds working for Google, Red Hat, AWS and the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA). Gretel has a booth at Nvidia's GTC 2025 conference this week in San Jose, Calif. [Related: Google Cloud's 10 New Bold AI Products: Gemini Robotics, AI Coach And Gemma 3] Nvidia and Gretel did not respond for comment by press time. Gretel's platform leverages advanced generative models to create artificial data that retains the statistical properties of real-world datasets while ensuring data privacy. Gretel's platform supports various data types -- such as structured tabular data, time-series data and unstructured text -- which allow customers to share, analyze and develop AI models without exposing sensitive or any proprietary IP, according to the company. The startup will reportedly be folded into Nvidia. Gretel's Cloud Partnerships With AWS, Google And Microsoft Gretel has partnerships with the major cloud players like AWS, Google Cloud and Microsoft to help its joint customers generate high-quality, safe synthetic data for enterprise AI solutions. In October 2024, Google Cloud and Gretel teamed up to simplify and streamline synthetic data generation for data engineers and data scientists within BigQuery. In late 2023, Gretel unveiled a partnership with Microsoft Azure and joined the Microsoft for Startups Pegasus Program. Also in late 2023, Gretel signed a strategic collaboration agreement with AWS aimed at accelerating responsible generative AI development that protects sensitive and personal data. For Nvidia, the AI superstar can leverage Gretel's technology to offer developers tools for generating realistic, privacy-preserving datasets along with the ability to train and fine-tune AI models across various applications. The acquisition also complements Nvidia's existing synthetic data technologies that are designed to generate synthetic data for training large language models (LLMs). Nvidia has already been offering synthetic data tools for developers for years. In 2024, Nvidia launched its Nemotron family of open AI models that generate synthetic training data for developers to use in building or fine-tuning LLMs. Designed by developers for developers, Gretel said its APIs make it easy to generate anonymized and safe synthetic data so users can preserve privacy and innovate faster. Developers use Gretel to create artificial, privacy-enhanced versions of their sensitive data and to quickly generate new labeled samples to augment limited machine learning training datasets -- all on-demand. The company says over 150,000 developers are using Gretel. Gretel also offers an application programming interface (API) that allows for integration into existing workflows, allowing developers to generate and customize synthetic datasets on demand. Users can also fine-tune the balance between data fidelity and anonymization, all while being guided by built-in privacy controls, according to the company. Some of the world's largest AI providers -- like AWS, Microsoft, Meta and Anthropic -- are already leveraging synthetic data to train their AI models on as sources of real-world data become scarce. Meta Llama 3 LLM uses synthetic data, while Amazon's Bedrock AI platform lets developers use Anthropic's Claude to generate synthetic data. Synthetic data includes text, videos, and images that can be combined with real-world data to train AI models more efficiently and affordably.

Nvidia acquires synthetic data provider Gretel

Create a free Seeking Alpha account to access breaking news and valuable research tools " Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) has acquired synthetic data company Gretel for nine figures, Wired reported, citing people familiar with the deal. The deal price surpassed San Diego-based Gretel's most recent valuation of $320M, the report added. However, the exact terms of the agreement were not known. Gretel provides a platform to access synthetic for better training of AI models and also offers Application Programming Interface, or APIs to developers who want to build generative AI models, but do not have access to enough training data or have privacy concerns about using real-world data. Gretel fine-tunes existing open-source models to add differential privacy and safety features. Synthetic data is non-human-created data which mimics real-world data. It is generated through statistical methods or by using AI techniques such as deep learning and generative AI. Synthetic data can come in the form of multimedia, tabular or text. Organizations use it for research, testing, new development and machine learning research. Synthetic data can potentially solve the growing need, yet short supply, of high-quality real-world training data for AI models. Gretel and its team of about 80 employees will be merged in Nvidia, where its technology will be used as part of Nvidia's growing suite of cloud-based, generative AI services for developers, the report noted. Nvidia did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Seeking Alpha. The acquisition comes as Nvidia has been unveiling synthetic data generation tools, so that developers can train their own AI models and fine-tune them for specific apps, according to the report. Gretel had raised over $67M in venture capital funding before the acquisition, the report added citing Pitchbook. In December 2023, Gretel announced a partnership with Microsoft (MSFT) Azure and joined the Microsoft for Startups Pegasus Program. Last year in November, Microsoft announced a Gretel Azure OpenAI Service Collaboration. Shares of Nvidia were up about 2% on Wednesday, in the week where it is holding its annual GTC event. More on Nvidia Nvidia: A Rare Buying Opportunity Following The GTC Event Nvidia And The Super Bowl Of AI Nvidia: Price Recovery After Q4 Is On, GTC 2025 Could Be The Next Big Upside Catalyst SA Heatmap: With Nvidia down 25% from all-time highs, is it time to buy the stock? Nvidia, xAI join global AI infrastructure group to develop data centers Stay Ahead with Timely Insights from Seeking Alpha Tariffs are triggering volatility. Don't wait for tomorrow's headlines -- get the latest insights today.