NetApp Acquires DataPelago, Making Data AI-Ready at the Infrastructure Layer

Embedding GPU-accelerated intelligence enables enterprises to easily discover, govern, and activate data for AI and analytics at the source

NetApp® (NASDAQ: NTAP), the Intelligent Data Infrastructure company, today announced it has acquired DataPelago, a California-based AI data infrastructure company recognized for its innovative approach to eliminating data processing bottlenecks for AI and analytics workloads. The acquisition marks a foundational expansion of NetApp's portfolio, enabling GPU-accelerated data processing aligned directly with the storage layer. With this acquisition, NetApp establishes itself as the company that makes zero-copy activation of enterprise data for AI real.

AI is the defining platform shift of our era, but enterprises are discovering that their greatest bottleneck is preparing, governing, and activating their data fast enough to put AI into production. The key to accomplishing this objective is to enable accelerated computing where the data is created and stored. DataPelago solves this challenge by fundamentally reimagining where accelerated compute happens: at the data layer, not above it.

"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.”

DataPelago's core technology, Nucleus, is a universal data processing engine that uses heterogeneous accelerated computing across CPUs and GPUs to process data where it lives. By processing data at the storage layer rather than moving it to external compute clusters, Nucleus reduces infrastructure costs by up to 80 percent and delivers performance up to 10 times faster than conventional approaches. In addition, by not requiring customers to copy their data from their operational systems to AI-systems, DataPelago eliminates the single biggest bottleneck in enterprise AI deployment. DataPelago’s technology is delivering value at large enterprises across multiple industries, accelerating demanding workloads while improving infrastructure efficiency at scale.

"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."

"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," said Syam Nair, Chief Product Officer at NetApp. "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."

Following the acquisition, DataPelago will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of NetApp. This news signals a continued growth trajectory for NetApp, following recent industry-leading partnerships with Cisco, Google Cloud, Red Hat, and SK Telecom, among others.

"Safe Harbor" Statement Under U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements about the anticipated benefits of the acquisition of DataPelago, including the ability to align GPU-accelerated data processing with the storage layer and enable zero-copy activation of enterprise data for AI; the ability of the technologies to reduce infrastructure costs, accelerate performance, and eliminate data processing bottlenecks for enterprise AI deployment; our business, economic and market outlook; our overall future prospects; demand for our AI solutions and other offerings; and our ability to deliver increasing results and value for our stakeholders. These and other important factors are described in reports and documents we file from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the factors described under the sections titled "Risk Factors" in our most recently filed annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly report on Form 10-Q. All statements made in this release are made only as of the date set forth at the beginning of this release. We disclaim any obligation to update information contained in this press release whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

Statement of Product Direction

This press release discusses NetApp's vision for future innovation, including the anticipated alignment of DataPelago's technology with NetApp’s portfolio. This information is shared solely for informational purposes and should not be relied upon in making purchasing decisions. NetApp makes no commitment and has no obligation to develop or deliver any products, services, integrations, or any related features, material, code or functionality described herein, including any capabilities resulting from the acquisition of DataPelago. The development, release and timing of any features or functionality for NetApp products and services, including those offering DataPelago's technology, remains at the sole discretion of NetApp. NetApp's strategy and possible future developments, product and platform directions, and functionality, including plans related to DataPelago's technology, are all subject to change without notice. We disclaim any obligation to update information contained in this press release whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

About NetApp

For more than three decades, NetApp has helped the world’s leading organizations navigate change – from the rise of enterprise storage to the intelligent era defined by data and AI. Today, NetApp is the Intelligent Data Infrastructure company, helping customers turn data into a catalyst for innovation, resilience, and growth.

At the heart of that infrastructure is the NetApp data platform – the unified, enterprise-grade, intelligent foundation that connects, protects, and activates data across every cloud, workload, and environment. Built on the proven power of NetApp ONTAP, our leading data management software and OS, and enhanced by automation through the AI Data Engine and AFX, it delivers observability, resilience, and intelligence at scale.

Disaggregated by design, the NetApp data platform separates storage, services, and control so enterprises can modernize faster, scale efficiently, and innovate without lock-in. As the only enterprise storage platform natively embedded in the world’s largest clouds, it gives organizations the freedom to run any workload anywhere with consistent performance, governance, and protection.

With NetApp, data is always ready – ready to defend against threats, ready to power AI, and ready to drive the next breakthrough. That’s why the world’s most forward-thinking enterprises trust NetApp to turn intelligence into advantage.

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NETAPP, the NETAPP logo, and the marks listed at www.netapp.com/TMare trademarks of NetApp, Inc. Other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

About DataPelago

DataPelago is driving the data acceleration revolution that AI demands. Today, AI's relentless hunger for data acceleration at massive scale has created the ultimate chokepoint — without economically scaled data processing, AI innovation itself will be throttled. At DataPelago, we’re unleashing breakthrough thinking to transform data processing economics and ignite the next wave of AI-powered revolution.

DataPelago Nucleus is the world's first universal data processing engine built for accelerated computing, purpose-built to process any type of data, operate across any hardware, and support any query engine, delivering new price/performance benefits that make it viable to extract value from all the data in the world, igniting an AI-powered revolution.

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