NetApp, a U.S.-based provider of enterprise data infrastructure and storage technologies, has acquired AI data infrastructure company DataPelago to integrate accelerated data processing into its storage platform. The deal centers on DataPelago's Nucleus engine, which processes enterprise data where it is stored rather than moving it to separate compute environments for AI workloads.
The acquisition addresses one of the operational challenges enterprises face when deploying AI: preparing, governing and processing large volumes of data before it reaches models running on GPUs. By executing those tasks at the storage layer, NetApp said customers can avoid copying data into external AI systems, reducing infrastructure complexity and improving processing speed.
“As AI models and the chips that power them get ever more effective, enterprises need data infrastructure that is just as intelligent and powerful to harness the potential of their data,” said George Kurian, Chief Executive Officer at NetApp. “NetApp is leading the industry in helping customers drive innovation and generate business value by giving them full command of their most important asset: their data. With DataPelago, we are extending our ability to help customers understand and process their data with the agility required to unleash competitive advantage.”
At the center of the acquisition is Nucleus, DataPelago's data processing engine, which uses CPUs and GPUs to process data directly at its source. According to the companies, the approach cuts infrastructure costs by up to 80% and delivers performance up to 10 times faster than conventional architectures that require data to be transferred into dedicated compute clusters. The technology is already in use at large enterprises across multiple industries.
“DataPelago is on a mission to eliminate the data processing bottlenecks that prevent AI innovation from reaching its full potential,” said Rajan Goyal, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of DataPelago. “Joining NetApp gives us the opportunity to combine our breakthrough processing technology with the industry’s best data infrastructure portfolio. Enterprises have invested billions in GPUs and AI models, but their data remains fragmented, leaving valuable computing resources to sit idle rather than putting these investments to work. Together, we’re positioned to help customers simplify and accelerate AI deployment at scale.”
Syam Nair, Chief Product Officer at NetApp, said the acquisition extends the company's ability to prepare and govern enterprise data without requiring data copies.
“DataPelago’s Nucleus engine brings software-defined acceleration directly to the storage layer, processing data across CPUs and GPUs so enterprises can prepare, govern, and activate their data for AI without moving it. This is true zero-copy activation,” he said. “NetApp manages more enterprise data across more environments than anyone in the industry. The next phase of AI will be won by those who make that data work at the source, and the DataPelago team brings the technical depth and velocity to get us there faster.”
