Modal adds Nvidia CPUs alongside Intel and AMD

Modal plans to use Nvidia’s Vera central processors to host AI agents, expanding beyond the Intel and AMD chips it has relied on for those workloads. The cloud-computing startup said early tests showed Vera doubled the amount of work agents could perform. Supporting the processor will require significant software changes.

Chief Executive Erik Bernhardsson said Modal will retain Intel and AMD processors, assigning workloads to whichever hardware performs best. The tests compared Vera against currently available competing chips, while newer models under development could narrow the performance gap. Modal plans to evaluate those processors when they become available.

The startup raised US$750 million last week in an Accel-led funding round at a valuation of $15.75 billion. It said it is on track to record $1 billion in sales over the next year, with service usage having tripled and revenue growing more than 15 times year-over-year.

The deal adds momentum to Nvidia’s expansion into central processors. Nvidia expects at least $20 billion in Vera sales this fiscal year in a market it values at roughly $200 billion. OpenAI, Anthropic, Oracle and Perplexity also plan to use the processors, according to Nvidia.