Red Hat Acquires Neural Magic to Boost Open Source AI Performance
Red Hat purchases AI optimization startup Neural Magic to enhance model speeds on standard processors. The acquisition strengthens Red Hat's enterprise-grade AI stack across hybrid cloud environments.
Red Hat acquires Neural Magic, a startup that specializes in making AI models run faster on standard processors and GPUs. Founded in 2018 by MIT researchers, Neural Magic develops software that achieves speeds comparable to specialized AI chips by leveraging the larger memory available in off-the-shelf hardware. The financial terms of this acquisition remain undisclosed.
Neural Magic stands out in the crowded AI optimization market because of its free platform and extensive collection of open source tools. Red Hat shows particular interest in the startup's work on vLLM, an open source project dedicated to model serving. Red Hat already uses vLLM to power AI features in products like Red Hat Enterprise Linux AI and Red Hat OpenShift AI.
Through this acquisition, Red Hat builds an enterprise-grade stack that allows customers to optimize and deploy AI models across various cloud environments while maintaining strict control over infrastructure and security. CEO Matt Hicks states that this move enables partners to scale AI more effectively and helps Red Hat solidify its position as a leading provider of open source AI solutions for the hybrid cloud.