NetApp has acquired DataPelago, a California-based AI data infrastructure company, in a move designed to eliminate the data preparation bottleneck that prevents enterprises from deploying AI at scale. Financial terms were not disclosed. DataPelago will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of NetApp following the close.
DataPelago’s core technology, called Nucleus, is a universal data processing engine built for heterogeneous accelerated computing — meaning it can run workloads across both CPUs and GPUs — and is designed to process data where it lives, at the storage layer, rather than requiring data to be copied and moved to separate compute clusters before AI or analytics workloads can run against it. That zero-copy approach is the central value proposition: by eliminating the data movement step, DataPelago removes what NetApp and DataPelago both describe as the single largest bottleneck in enterprise AI deployment. According to the companies, Nucleus reduces infrastructure costs by up to 80% and delivers performance up to 10 times faster than conventional approaches in which data must be extracted, transformed, and loaded before use.
The problem the acquisition addresses is structural. Enterprises have invested heavily in GPUs and large AI models, but the data those systems need is fragmented across storage environments and requires substantial preprocessing before it can feed AI pipelines. That preprocessing is slow, expensive, and increasingly incompatible with the pace at which AI workloads need to operate. By embedding GPU-accelerated compute directly into the storage infrastructure layer — NetApp’s core domain — the combined platform allows enterprises to process, govern, and activate data for AI without first copying it into a separate system.
NetApp manages enterprise data across more environments than any other storage company and is natively embedded in the world’s largest cloud platforms. The acquisition follows recent partnerships with Cisco, Google Cloud, Red Hat, and SK Telecom.
KEY QUOTES:
“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. With DataPelago, we are extending our ability to help customers understand and process their data with the agility required to unleash competitive advantage.”
George Kurian, Chief Executive Officer, NetApp
“DataPelago is on a mission to eliminate the data processing bottlenecks that prevent AI innovation from reaching its full potential. 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.”
Rajan Goyal, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, DataPelago
“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. 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.”
Syam Nair, Chief Product Officer, NetApp
