Nvidia and OpenAI have unveiled a landmark partnership that could reshape the future of artificial intelligence, with Nvidia committing up to $100 billion to build state-of-the-art data centers.
The agreement, revealed in a letter of intent on Monday, underscores the soaring demand for AI tools like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and the immense computing infrastructure required to support them. The deal will fund new facilities with at least 10 gigawatts of power capacity, powered by Nvidia’s latest chips.
According to people familiar with the arrangement, Nvidia will phase its investment, beginning with an initial $10 billion and adding funds as each gigawatt of capacity goes live. The investment will be made in cash, and Nvidia will receive equity in OpenAI as part of the deal.
Markets reacted positively to the news, with Nvidia shares rising 3.9% in New York trading. The company’s stock has climbed about 37% this year, cementing its position as the world’s most valuable publicly traded firm. OpenAI, the world’s leading AI startup, has been valued at as much as $500 billion in recent private market discussions.
Industry analysts note that building AI-ready data centers is a massive global undertaking, expected to cost trillions of dollars in the coming years. To put the scale into perspective, the 10 gigawatts of planned capacity would rival the peak power demand of New York City.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang described the initiative as a “giant” effort that could require as many as five million of the company’s chips—roughly matching its expected shipments this year. “This investment and infrastructure partnership mark the next leap forward—deploying 10 gigawatts to power the next era of intelligence,” he said.
For OpenAI, the deal secures access to the computing resources needed to fuel new breakthroughs. CEO Sam Altman stressed the importance of infrastructure, saying, “Everything starts with compute. Strong computing power will be the foundation of the future economy.”
The partnership further solidifies Nvidia’s dominance in the AI chip market, even as regulators weigh potential measures to boost competition. Despite concerns, the company maintains it will continue serving all clients on equal terms.
This move follows a wave of large-scale AI infrastructure investments worldwide. OpenAI recently joined forces with Oracle on a separate 5-gigawatt project, while tech giants including Microsoft, Meta, and SoftBank have pledged hundreds of billions to expand data center capacity.
