Inference competition intensifies: AMD Taalas acquisition and Nvidia Groq acquisition

AMD acquired Taalas, a startup hardwiring model weights for 48x inference speed over H200/B200, directly challenging Nvidia's inference dominance. Nvidia reportedly acquired Groq for $20B as defensive M&A to protect inference moat. NVDA stock jumped 4% on Taalas news. CUDA moat and scale remain formidable, but inference cost narrative is a long-term threat. Polymarket odds still favor Nvidia.