NetApp says it intends to acquire Manchester AI storage firm PEAK:AIO

NetApp, the Nasdaq-listed data-storage company, announced on Friday 25 September 2026 its "intent to acquire PEAK:AIO", which the release describes as "a Manchester UK-based software-defined AI storage company". The announcement was distributed through Business Wire.

What was announced

• The deal: NetApp said it intends to acquire PEAK:AIO, which it calls "a pioneer in next-generation metadata architecture and high-performance parallel file systems".
• Status: The release says: "The transaction remains subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals."
• Price: the release does not state a price or other financial terms. Storage trade site Blocks & Files wrote that it understands the acquisition "is likely not material in a financial sense to NetApp"; that is the site's own understanding, not a company figure.
• Timing: the release gives no expected closing date.

What NetApp says it is buying

According to NetApp, the "planned acquisition is expected to accelerate NetApp's AI infrastructure roadmap by augmenting metadata services and parallel namespace innovation designed to help AI clouds scale shared storage alongside growing GPU clusters."

In plainer terms, the release describes an architecture that "disaggregates metadata from data and enables metadata services to scale independently". Metadata is the index a file system keeps about every file. On our reading, the problem being addressed is that when very large numbers of GPUs read training data at the same time, that index can become a bottleneck. NetApp says the combined design is "intended to support trillions of files and multi-exabyte deployments" and to "help reduce data-related GPU stalls". Those are stated aims, not measured results, and the release does not include benchmark figures.

The plan, per the release, is to add PEAK:AIO's "specialized metadata services and parallel namespace innovation" to ONTAP, NetApp's storage operating software, "while creating a clear evolution path for existing ONTAP customers."

Who PEAK:AIO is

The release says PEAK:AIO's technology "originated from collaborations with leading research institutions, including Los Alamos National Laboratory and Carnegie Mellon University". It lists the company as deployed at Los Alamos National Laboratory, NHS AIDE, Oxford Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Liverpool, the University of Strathclyde MediForge Hub and the Zoological Society of London.

Blocks & Files reports that the company was founded in 2021 and that it "secured around $7 million in seed funding in October last year". We have not seen a company filing for that figure.

What the two companies said

George Kurian, NetApp's chief executive, said in the release: "AI clouds need high-performance shared storage that can scale alongside growing GPU clusters while maintaining the resilience, security, and operational simplicity organizations depend on."

Mark Klarzynski, PEAK:AIO's chief technology officer and founder, said: "What excites us most about joining NetApp is the opportunity to pair our culture of innovation with the reach, scale, and customer trust of a global leader."

The caveats in the release

NetApp attached a "Statement of Product Direction" to the announcement. It says NetApp "makes no commitment and has no obligation to develop or deliver any products, services, integrations, or any related features" described, "including any capabilities resulting from the acquisition of PEAK:AIO", and that plans related to PEAK:AIO's technology "are all subject to change without notice."

Why it matters

On our reading, this is a Nasdaq-listed storage company choosing to buy a Manchester software firm for its work on one specific problem: keeping large GPU clusters supplied with data. The deal is not complete, no price has been published, and NetApp itself says the product plans may change. The points to watch are whether the deal closes, and whether NetApp later publishes performance figures for the combined system.