NVIDIA (NVDA.US) and Cisco (CSCO.US) have strengthened their collaboration to jointly advance enterprise AI deployment and infrastructure optimization.

Nvidia (NVDA.US) as the top supplier of new AI computer chips is expanding its partnership with networking equipment maker Cisco (CSCO.US) to make it easier for businesses to deploy AI systems, as many companies are still in the early stages of adopting AI due to the complexity the shift has added to data centers, the companies said in a joint statement.

Nvidia provides networking add-ons for its AI server gear called Spectrum-X Ethernet, and the companies said the product line will start to include Cisco chips that handle broader connectivity functions.

"Businesses are under immense pressure to deploy AI quickly and effectively, and many leaders are struggling to justify investments while balancing risk," Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins said in a statement. "Cisco and Nvidia are working together to remove barriers for our customers, ensuring they can optimize infrastructure investments and unleash the power of AI."

Typically, the construction of AI data centers is done mainly by the smallest group of the world's largest companies, known as hyperscale companies, such as Microsoft (MSFT.US) and Amazon (AMZN.US), which have massive engineering teams able to design and deploy machines.

Nvidia is hoping to expand the reach of the technology beyond its small group of customers and bring AI to a broader swath of the economy. A year ago, the company first teamed up with Cisco to try to reach a larger audience, including the networking company's biggest users — businesses and government.

For Cisco, the partnership with Nvidia is a way to grab a bigger slice of AI spending, which has been hard for the networking company to sell its gear to the hyperscale data centers. Nvidia's networking gear will include Cisco's Silicon One chips, which would give the product an edge in competing with Broadcom's widely used gear.