On September 22, chip maker Nvidia said it will invest up to $100 billion in OpenAI, while providing data center chip systems to the company.
This is a rare collaboration between two "big guys" in the field of artificial intelligence (AI). OpenAI is a major customer of Nvidia, and the new deal will help the chipmaker become a non-voting shareholder at the AI company valued at about $500 billion.
The deal includes two joint ventures: Nvidia will invest in OpenAI, and OpenAI will use the money to buy Nvidia chips.
Everything starts with computing power, emphasized OpenAI CEO Sam altman. needing infrastructure will be the foundation for a future economy, and we will take advantage of our partnership with Nvidia to create new AI breakthroughs.
The two sides signed a letter expressing their intention to deploy at least 10 GW of the Nvidia system to OpenAI - equivalent to the electricity needs of more than 8 million US households. Nvidia plans to ship the first batch of hardware by the end of 2026, based on a new platform called Vera Rubin.
Immediately after the announcement, Nvidia shares increased by 4.4% to record levels, while Oracle - a data center construction partner for OpenAI - also increased by 6%. Oracle is currently participating in the $500 billion Stargate project with OpenAI, Microsoft and softBank, to build a giant global AI data center system.
According to the preliminary agreement, Nvidia will initially invest10 billion USD when OpenAI officially buys the company's system. Analysts said this was a great motivation for Nvidia, but there were also concerns about the "circle" of the deal when the investment could return to Nvidia as chip purchases.
Meanwhile, OpenAI continues its own plan to develop AI chips with broadcom and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC). A source said the agreement with Nvidia does not affect these projects or its partnership with Microsoft.
This is the latest step in the wave of cooperation between technology "big guys". Previously, Microsoft invested tens of billions of dollars in OpenAI, while Nvidia recently spent $5 billion to support Intel in the AI chip field.
Experts say the deal will help OpenAI maintain its advantage in increasingly fierce competition, while strengthening Nvidia's dominance in the AI chip market - a field that is growing rapidly but also has many potential risks of antitrust.
