Korea’s system integration firm Samsung SDS said Thursday it has bought an equity stake in U.S.-based graphics processing unit (GPU) virtualization solution provider Bitfusion Inc. But the company fell short of detailing the deal, including the size of its investment.

Founded in 2015, the company based in Austin, Texas holds patents to virtualizing GPU resources needed in high-performance computing for artificial intelligence, autonomous driving and big data analytics. Virtualization is a technology that transforms hardware into software.

Shares of Samsung SDS closed Thursday 1.6 percent up at 222,000 won ($207.09).

A GPU can handle data faster than a CPU and the GPU industry has been expanding sharply on the back of the development of artificial intelligence and big data-fueled technologies like blockchain, Samsung SDS said.

Bitfusion’s technologies will help in improving GPU performance in the cloud service by two to four times and save costs by up to 50 percent.

Samsung SDS said the deal will help the company improve its competitiveness in the cloud computing business. Samsung SDS is cooperating with major tech giants such as Amazon and Microsoft to enhance its cloud computing operations.

Earlier, Samsung SDS announced its first quarter operating profit was 181.8 billion won, up 24 percent from a year ago over sales of 2.36 trillion won, up 10 percent.

By Hwang Hyung-gyu and Minu Kim

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