Nvidia Corp. has agreed to invest up to $100 billion in OpenAI to support the building of new data centres, in what is seen as a blockbuster deal to build the world's most advanced AI infrastructure.
The companies at the forefront of the AI overdrive have signed a letter of intent to deploy 10 GW of Nvidia systems for OpenAI's next-generation AI infrastructure, according to a statement released on Monday. That will be used train and run models “on the path to deploying super-intelligence”.
“Nvidia and OpenAI have pushed each other for a decade, from the first DGX supercomputer to the breakthrough of ChatGPT,” Jensen Huang, founder and chief executive of the world's most valued chipmaker, said in the statement.
“This investment and infrastructure partnership mark the next leap forward—deploying 10 gigawatts to power the next era of intelligence.”
Nvidia will receive equity in OpenAI in the deal, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the arrangement. The investment will be in stages with the first $10 billion coming when the first gigawatt of computing power is deployed, the people said.
“Everything starts with compute,” OpenAI's co-founder and CEO Sam Altman said in the statement. “Compute infrastructure will be the basis for economy of the future, and we will utilise what we are building with Nvidia to both create new AI breakthroughs…”
{{/usCountry}}“Everything starts with compute,” OpenAI's co-founder and CEO Sam Altman said in the statement. “Compute infrastructure will be the basis for economy of the future, and we will utilise what we are building with Nvidia to both create new AI breakthroughs…”
{{/usCountry}}The first phase of the new Nvidia-OpenAI deal is targeted to come online in the second half of 2026 using Nvidia's Vera Rubin platform.
OpenAI-Nvidia Deal
The deal is essentially the coming-together of OpenAI's software and Nvidia hardware for a common AI roadmap. OpenAI will work with Nvidia as a preferred compute and networking partner for growing its AI factory.
This partnership complements the work OpenAI and Nvidia are doing with Microsoft Corp., Oracle Corp., SoftBank Group Corp. and Stargate — an AI supercomputer.
Nvidia has been using its financial might to make sure its GPUs remain at the heart of AI systems. Keeping OpenAI as a major customer may help it cement that position.
OpenAI’s ChatGPT is used by roughly 700 million people weekly and takes an intensive amount of computing power to service and build its products. In the past, the company has faced computing constraints in its ability to meet customer demand, particularly around new releases.