NVIDIA Downplays $100 Billion OpenAI Investment, Says Amount Would be Less
In Focus
- NVIDIA will consider one funding round at a time
- Jensen Huang said NVIDIA will invest a “great deal of money” in OpenAI
- NVIDIA’s investment has raised concerns over the circular nature of AI funding
NVIDIA has said that the proposed $100 billion investment in OpenAI was not a commitment on its part. According to Yahoo Finance, CEO Jensen Huang said the AI chip maker would evaluate and consider each funding round separately. NVIDIA’s OpenAI investment was meant to support development of new data centers and other AI infrastructure
NVIDIA Expressed Intention to Invest in OpenAI
NVIDIA had signed a letter of intent to invest up to $100 billion in the AI startup in September 2025. The funding would enable OpenAI to establish data centers with a capacity of 10 gigawatts of power, and equip them with NVIDIA advanced processors to train and deploy their AI models.
The chipmaker’s plan to invest in OpenAI reportedly experienced headwinds after some people within the company expressed doubt about the investment deal. Sources close to the company said that CEO Huang had highlighted that the NVIDIA OpenAI $100 billion investment agreement was not binding.
“It was never a commitment. They invited us to invest up to $100 billion and of course, we were very happy and honored that they invited us, but we will invest one step at a time,” Huang noted as cited by Yahoo Finance.
NVIDIA’s OpenAI funding update comes at a time when the AI developer is discussing a potential $60 billion investment with several other big techs. Under these talks, Amazon and NVIDIA might invest over $10 billion and $30 billion in OpenAI respectively.
NVIDIA Still Plans to Invest in OpenAI
Jensen Huang had reportedly criticized OpenAI’s approach to business in private, citing a lack of discipline and expressing concern about rising competition. But when asked about these sentiments in public, Huang said the reports were inaccurate.
“We will invest a great deal of money, I believe in OpenAI. The work that they do is incredible. They’re one of the most consequential companies of our time,” Huang added.
However, the NVIDIA CEO did not reveal the actual amount that his company will invest in OpenAI. However, he described the amount as large, and said it will potentially be the highest amount the company has ever invested.
Huang clarified that NVIDIA’s OpenAI AI data centers funding in the current financing round would not be as high as $100 billion. The NVIDIA CEO further noted that the timelines for deployment of the first gigawatt data center under the joint plan is entirely up to OpenAI, which controls the infrastructure.
Circular Financing Concerns
NVIDIA’s investment in OpenAI has raised concerns over the circular nature of AI funding. OpenAI is a major buyer of NVIDIA AI chips. In another deal, NVIDIA plans to invest $2 billion more in cloud computing firm, CoreWeave, which is also its key customer. The AI chipmaker’s market valuation surpassed the $5 trillion mark last year amidst AI rally. Increasingly, investors are expressing concerns over the role of such partnerships in driving artificial AI demand.
