Two former Groq engineers have asked a Delaware court to find that stockholders in the AI chip startup were shortchanged when Nvidia paid $20 billion for its technology. Joshua Rubin and Benjamin Serebrin filed the complaint on October 2, CNBC’s Kai Nicol-Schwarz reported. Both left before the deal was announced and say they still held shares.
The complaint alleges Groq’s board “sold the company to Nvidia without the stockholder vote Delaware law requires.” A stockholder vote lets owners approve a sale of their company, and Delaware law matters because most large US companies are incorporated there. The structure is the crux. Nvidia licensed Groq’s technology and hired its leaders, and Jensen Huang wrote that Nvidia is “not acquiring Groq as a company.” The suit alleges the arrangement worked as a sale in everything but name.
A Groq spokesperson told CNBC the suit is “meritless” and that the licensing agreement delivered “exceptional value.” CNBC’s report carries no response from Nvidia. Nothing has been decided.
Founders weighing a licence-and-hire exit now have a live dispute over whether that route needs a stockholder vote.
Reported by Kai Nicol-Schwarz for CNBC on 5 October 2026.
