Modular
"Inference reimagined, from Kernel to Cloud. One unified stack."
Modular built the Mojo language and MAX AI-inference platform for GPUs/CPUs before Qualcomm completed its acquisition of the firm in July 2026.
Modular is an AI infrastructure software company founded by Chris Lattner and Tim Davis, who met while both working at Google. Lattner is known in the software industry as the creator of the LLVM compiler infrastructure and the Swift programming language, developed during his earlier career at Apple; Davis previously worked on product at Google Brain. The two founded Modular to address fragmentation in the AI infrastructure stack: the proliferation of incompatible frameworks, compilers, and hardware-specific toolchains that make it costly and slow to move AI workloads from research into production across different chips and cloud environments. The company's two flagship technical products are Mojo, a systems-level programming language designed to combine Python-like syntax and usability with the performance characteristics of lower-level languages for GPU and CPU programming, and MAX, a GenAI-native modeling and serving platform that compiles and runs AI models across heterogeneous hardware from a single unified stack. Modular describes MAX as delivering roughly 2x inference performance improvements and up to 50% cost savings compared with fragmented, hardware-specific deployment pipelines, attributed to improved GPU utilization and faster model compilation. The company offers its inference platform through shared endpoints, dedicated endpoints, and fully custom model deployments, hosted either on Modular's managed cloud or within a customer's own virtual private cloud. Modular has built an open-source community around Mojo and MAX, publishing code on GitHub under modular/modular and operating a public Discord community for developers. The company describes its offices as centered in Silicon Valley with additional presences in San Francisco, Los Altos, Boston, and Edinburgh, the last reflecting UK-based compiler and systems engineering talent. In June 2026, Qualcomm announced its intent to acquire Modular, and the transaction closed on July 29, 2026. Qualcomm stated the acquisition would strengthen its software foundation for generative and agentic AI across data-center and edge environments, extending Modular's inference stack from cloud GPUs to Qualcomm's data-center and edge silicon. Following the close, Lattner became EVP of AI Software and Platforms at Qualcomm, and Davis became SVP and General Manager of Modular within Qualcomm. Prior to the acquisition, Modular operated as an independent venture-backed startup providing inference infrastructure to enterprise customers running large generative and agentic AI models. Specific founding year, headquarters street address, and employee count were not confirmed from the sources reviewed and are left blank rather than estimated.
Primary type & automation activities this supplier delivers:
MAX
MAX is Modular's generative-AI inference and deployment platform, letting developers serve PyTorch and ONNX models across CPUs and GPUs from multiple hardware vendors.
Company Facts
Founded
2022
Primary Role
Software/Algorithm
Company Size
-
Primary Region
North America
Annual Sales
-
Funding Stage
Subsidiary / Acquired
Funding Total
-
Interroll Launches Refurbished UK Customer Experience Centre in Kettering
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Industry News
University of Stuttgart Researchers Develop Robot Swarms for Autonomous Construction Projects
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AI and Robotics
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Drone News Drone News Feeds Drone Swarms drone technology infrastructure Launch Technology
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News & Features Air Air Forces Drones Q-9 U.S. Air Force
Microfactories Revolutionizing Manufacturing with Additive Technologies and Robotics
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Astribot Launches T1 Humanoid Robot in North America at IROS 2026 for $18,000
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US AstriBot China
AGIRobots Launches HA1, a 7-Axis Robot Arm for Humanoid Development
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Comau Innovates Robotic Order Preparation System for Decathlon's E-commerce Fulfillment
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Introducing HaiPick Climb: A High-Density Warehouse Automation Solution
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