Chip giant Intel said late yesterday it had bought Kuck & Associates Inc (KAI) to help it build software tools to create cost effective multiprocessing systems. Neither firm said how much Intel had paid for the company, but KAI has pushed the case for OpenMP, an open multiprocessing environment meant to aid more efficient multithreaded applications. The KAI technology and tools spread applications across one or more CPUs, with it and Intel being founder members of the OpenMP Architecture Review Board. The Illinois company is based in Champaign, so we expect they were breaking open some bottles of bubbly last night. The combined teams will work to build development tools, including compilers and run times for OpenMP. ® * Never forget that Intel is now a major worldwide force in Vulture Capital. It continues to make investments which don't necessarily grab the headlines, but can be easily spotted by bookmarking the Intel Capital page.