Nvidia buys AI software provider SchedMD to bolster open-source AI push
Nvidia, the US chip design giant, announced on Monday that it has acquired AI software firm SchedMD.
- Dec 16, 2025,
- Updated Dec 16, 2025 3:08 PM IST
Nvidia announced on Monday that it has acquired AI software firm SchedMD, marking a strategic move to double down on open-source technology and ramp up investment in the artificial intelligence ecosystem. The acquisition strengthens Nvidia’s software offering as it seeks to maintain its dominance in the face of rising global competition.
SchedMD is the principal developer of Slurm, an open-source workload management system for High-Performance Computing (HPC) and AI. Slurm provides software critical for scheduling the massive computing jobs that can occupy a significant share of a data centre’s server capacity. While the core technology is freely accessible to developers and firms, SchedMD previously provided engineering and maintenance support.
The deal highlights the importance of software to Nvidia's broader strategy, supporting its proprietary CUDA platform, a standard relied upon by most developers. In a statement confirming the move, financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed, but Nvidia committed to continuing the distribution of SchedMD's software on an open-source basis.
Nvidia noted the system's vital role in the current AI landscape, stating in a blog post: "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."
The acquisition was welcomed by SchedMD's leadership. Danny Auble, the firm's chief executive, said: “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.”
The announcement coincided with Nvidia’s unveiling of a new family of open-source AI models, the Nemotron 3 lineup, which it claims will be faster, cheaper, and smarter than its previous offerings. The dual announcement underscores the chipmaker’s determination to solidify its ecosystem and counter a growing wave of rival open-source models, notably those emerging from Chinese AI laboratories. SchedMD was founded in 2010 in California, United States and currently employs 40 people.
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Nvidia announced on Monday that it has acquired AI software firm SchedMD, marking a strategic move to double down on open-source technology and ramp up investment in the artificial intelligence ecosystem. The acquisition strengthens Nvidia’s software offering as it seeks to maintain its dominance in the face of rising global competition.
SchedMD is the principal developer of Slurm, an open-source workload management system for High-Performance Computing (HPC) and AI. Slurm provides software critical for scheduling the massive computing jobs that can occupy a significant share of a data centre’s server capacity. While the core technology is freely accessible to developers and firms, SchedMD previously provided engineering and maintenance support.
The deal highlights the importance of software to Nvidia's broader strategy, supporting its proprietary CUDA platform, a standard relied upon by most developers. In a statement confirming the move, financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed, but Nvidia committed to continuing the distribution of SchedMD's software on an open-source basis.
Nvidia noted the system's vital role in the current AI landscape, stating in a blog post: "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."
The acquisition was welcomed by SchedMD's leadership. Danny Auble, the firm's chief executive, said: “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.”
The announcement coincided with Nvidia’s unveiling of a new family of open-source AI models, the Nemotron 3 lineup, which it claims will be faster, cheaper, and smarter than its previous offerings. The dual announcement underscores the chipmaker’s determination to solidify its ecosystem and counter a growing wave of rival open-source models, notably those emerging from Chinese AI laboratories. SchedMD was founded in 2010 in California, United States and currently employs 40 people.
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