Nvidia faces lawsuit over $20bn Groq licensing transaction

Nvidia is facing a lawsuit in Delaware filed on October 2, 2026, by two former engineers from artificial intelligence chip startup Groq. The legal complaint challenges a $20 billion licensing transaction that the two companies agreed to in December 2025, according to reporting by the Financial Times.

The transaction included a direct technology licensing fee of $17 billion paid to Groq. In addition, Nvidia set aside a $3 billion bonus pool of restricted stock units for Groq personnel who joined the company, bringing over 200 workers in the process.

The lawsuit alleges that the structure of the transaction disadvantaged employees who were excluded from moving to Nvidia. The legal complaint cites Nvidia's market capitalization of $5 trillion as of October 2026. Following the transaction, Groq's remaining cloud business completed a separate funding round at a valuation of $3.5 billion.