Nvidia is preparing to invest up to $1 billion in the French artificial intelligence startup Poolside, according to sources familiar with the matter. The investment is part of a broader funding round that could raise $2 billion in total and lift Poolside’s valuation to around $12 billion, nearly four times its previous value.
The move marks Nvidia’s latest effort to strengthen its position across the AI ecosystem through targeted investments in startups developing key technologies. The company, which recently became the world’s first $5 trillion firm by market capitalisation, is expected to contribute between $500 million and $1 billion, depending on the outcome of Poolside’s ongoing fundraising efforts.
AI Coding Automation at the Core of Poolside’s Strategy
Founded in 2023 by former GitHub CTO Jason Warner and Eiso Kant, Poolside focuses on developing AI systems that autonomously write and improve code. Unlike existing tools such as GitHub Copilot, which assist developers by suggesting code snippets, Poolside’s models aim to independently generate complete programs.
The company’s technology is based on a training technique called Reinforcement Learning via Code Execution Feedback, in which AI models write code, run it, detect errors, and learn iteratively from the debugging process. Nvidia’s investment is expected to support both Poolside’s product development and its acquisition of Nvidia’s GB300 chips for large-scale model training.
So far, Poolside has already secured more than $1 billion in commitments for its current funding round, including approximately $700 million from existing backers. The company’s rapid growth reflects rising investor interest in automation tools that reduce human involvement in software engineering.
Nvidia’s Broader Investment Push
Nvidia has been expanding its portfolio of AI-related investments as demand for computing infrastructure and software continues to grow. Data from PitchBook indicates that the company has invested in 59 AI startups in 2025 alone, surpassing its total for all of 2024. Notable recent deals include a proposed $100 billion partnership with OpenAI and a $1 billion investment in Nokia.
Poolside’s ambitions extend beyond AI software. Earlier this year, the company announced Project Horizon, a 2-gigawatt AI campus in West Texas being developed in partnership with CoreWeave, intended to serve as a large-scale hub for training and deployment of autonomous coding systems.
As the AI coding market evolves, competition remains intense. GitHub Copilot currently leads with over 20 million users across 77,000 enterprises. However, Poolside’s focus on full-code automation and its growing infrastructure capabilities position it as an emerging challenger in enterprise AI development.
