Nvidia and OpenAI announced Monday a landmark partnership that could reshape the global artificial intelligence race. The chipmaker plans to invest up to $100 billion in OpenAI and supply it with advanced data center chips, giving the AI startup the computing power it needs to maintain its edge.
The deal involves two intertwined transactions. Nvidia will take non-voting shares in OpenAI, while OpenAI will use the cash to buy Nvidia systems. Both firms signed a letter of intent to deploy at least 10 gigawatts of Nvidia hardware, equal to the power needs of more than 8 million U.S. homes. Deliveries are set to begin in late 2026.
“Everything starts with compute,” OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said. “Compute infrastructure will be the basis for the economy of the future, and we will utilize what we’re building with Nvidia to both create new AI breakthroughs and empower people and businesses with them at scale.”
Nvidia shares rose more than 4% to a record high on the news, while Oracle stock climbed 6%. Oracle is already partnering with OpenAI, Microsoft, and SoftBank on the $500 billion Stargate project to build AI data centers worldwide.
Analysts praised the deal but warned it could spark antitrust scrutiny. Nvidia is already the dominant chip supplier for AI, and pairing its hardware monopoly with OpenAI’s leading software position may raise red flags for regulators. “This will fuel concerns about circular investments,” Bernstein analyst Stacy Rasgon said, pointing to the risk that Nvidia’s funding could be recycled into chip purchases.
OpenAI is still pursuing its own chip development with Broadcom and TSMC, a person familiar with the matter said, and the deal does not alter those plans.
The partnership is among the largest in the AI industry to date.
