Nvidia talks to acquire Korean Rebellions puts Aramco's investments at the heart of global AI infrastructure
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Nvidia is entering advanced talks to explore the possibility of acquiring South Korean AI chip maker Rebellions, Bloomberg reported, in a strategic move that may push one of the most prominent Gulf-backed start-ups deeper into the global computing infrastructure race. The negotiations come at a precise moment as the Korean firm prepares for an initial public offering, putting its growing investments and operations at the forefront of the data-center AI hardware landscape.
Rebellions specializes in developing and designing custom chips for data centers, with a precise focus on workloads tied to logical inference and model processing. This specialization represents the current pivot in the computing market, as technical demand worldwide expands beyond the model-training phase to efficient execution in complex inference environments, a path Nvidia seeks to strengthen its position in by acquiring new specialized capabilities that support its presence across various stages of advanced computing.
The Korean company's regional presence is linked to a direct investment partnership with Saudi Arabia.Rebellions received financial backing from Waad Ventures, the venture-capital arm of Aramco, which injected $15 million in July 2024 to support the company's expansion in the Saudi market. This investment gives Aramco a foothold in a critical technology layer of the AI infrastructure, and also establishes a strong commercial link between the Korean tech base and the Kingdom’s accelerating ambitions in the sector.
Rebellions’ financing trajectory has shown a marked acceleration, attracting the interest of major global tech firms. In 2025, the company raised $250 million in a Series C round at a $1.4 billion valuation, with participation from prominent semiconductor players such as Samsung, SK Hynix and ARM. The firm continued its financial growth, bringing total funding above $850 million after another round that gathered $400 million in March, raising its market valuation to $2.3 billion as it prepares for an IPO.
The Korean firm currently serves a broad customer base spanning key markets such as Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Japan and the United States, giving it commercial reach in the most vital AI computing and data-center hubs. These facts highlight that Nvidia’s interest in the potential deal reflects the strategic value of companies specialized in inference hardware amid rising global demand for computing infrastructure.
This negotiation pathway reveals the growing role of regional strategic capital in shaping the international tech landscape.Waad Ventures’ investment experience demonstrates local funds’ ability to link the Middle East’s tech economy with companies building the physical foundation for the next phase of AI. Anticipation remains about what the acquisition talks and the planned IPO will yield, and their impact on specialized chip supply chains.