IBM, Together AI ink $240 million deal for Nvidia-powered AI inference cluster - Yahoo Finance UK

IBM and startup Together AI have signed a $240 million multi-year agreement to build a large-scale AI inference cluster on IBM Cloud using Nvidia hardware. The cluster will support open-source AI mode... Read original →

This collaboration signals a shift in AI inference infrastructure from closed to open-source models, with Nvidia's Blackwell chips and HGX B300 delivering a performance leap that propels the entire semiconductor supply chain toward higher efficiency and lower power consumption. IBM’s involvement strengthens enterprise-grade security and compliance, especially amid U.S. export controls on Chinese tech firms, offering a strategic hedge against supply chain disruptions. Together AI’s $8.3B valuation reflects strong investor confidence in its open model approach, likely accelerating partnerships with cloud providers and eroding the market share of closed systems like those from Anthropic or OpenAI. In the short term, Nvidia may face increased demand for its chips, pushing it to expand capacity further. Over the next 12–24 months, the trend toward cloud-native, open-source inference clusters will define the AI infrastructure landscape, shifting the focus from raw compute power to ecosystem integration.