Nvidia pledges up to $100 bln in OpenAI, fuelling chip supremacy race

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Nvidia will invest as much as USD 100 billion in OpenAI and supply the ChatGPT-maker with its powerful data center chips, the companies have said.

The pact deepens the overlap between two of the most influential players in artificial intelligence.

The tie-up, announced on Monday, hands Nvidia a financial stake in OpenAI, already one of its top customers, while ensuring OpenAI has the cash and access needed to secure cutting-edge compute power. 

The deal could intensify scrutiny of the market dominance of both firms at a time when regulators are debating how to police the AI boom.

"Everything starts with compute," OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said, calling infrastructure the "basis for the economy of the future."

Deal details

Under the plan, Nvidia will purchase non-voting shares in OpenAI and funnel in an initial USD 10 billion once contracts are signed. OpenAI will use the funds to buy Nvidia hardware, with the first gigawatt of computing power expected in late 2026 on 

Nvidia's upcoming Vera Rubin platform. The companies signed a letter of intent to deploy at least 10 GW of systems—roughly equivalent to the energy needs of more than 8 million US homes.

Oracle, which is working with OpenAI, Microsoft and SoftBank on a USD 500 billion global data center project called Stargate, also stands to benefit from the deal.

Antitrust spotlight

The scale of Nvidia's commitment raises questions over whether investment and purchases could blur the line between partnership and dominance. 

The Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission carved up oversight of Microsoft, OpenAI and Nvidia last year, laying the groundwork for potential probes. 

But US President Donald Trump's administration has so far taken a lighter line on competition policy than his predecessor, tempering the likelihood of aggressive enforcement in the near term.

Chip supremacy at stake

Nvidia dominates the AI chip market, while OpenAI, Google and Amazon have been developing custom semiconductors as a cheaper alternative. OpenAI is building a chip with Broadcom and TSMC, a project that sources said remains unchanged despite Nvidia’s new role.

The contest is part of a global battle for chip supremacy that will decide the pace and scale of AI breakthroughs. While the US leads, India is moving quickly to claim a stake, with multibillion-dollar semiconductor fabs rising in Gujarat and other states as part of its push to become a manufacturing powerhouse. 

New Delhi has cast chips as critical national infrastructure, betting its entry into the supply chain could counterbalance US and Chinese dominance and secure a seat at the table in shaping the future of AI.