Nvidia CEO Quashes Reports: $100B OpenAI Investment is NOT Stalled

Published 6 days ago2 minute read
Uche Emeka
Uche Emeka
Nvidia CEO Quashes Reports: $100B OpenAI Investment is NOT Stalled

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang publicly refuted claims of friction between his company and OpenAI, dismissing a recent report by The Wall Street Journal as “nonsense.” Huang’s comments came during a visit to Taipei, where he addressed the allegations that Nvidia was looking to scale back its substantial investment in the artificial intelligence company.

The Wall Street Journal’s story, published late Friday, asserted that despite a September announcement detailing a plan for Nvidia to invest up to $100 billion in OpenAI and construct 10 gigawatts of computing infrastructure for them, Huang had begun to emphasize the nonbinding nature of this agreement. Furthermore, the report suggested that Huang had privately expressed criticisms regarding OpenAI’s business strategy and voiced concerns about the rise of competitors such as Anthropic and Google. The WSJ also indicated that the two companies were re-evaluating their relationship, with more recent discussions reportedly focusing on a significantly reduced equity investment from Nvidia, potentially in the range of tens of billions of dollars.

An OpenAI spokesperson, in response to the WSJ, affirmed that the companies were “actively working through the details of our partnership.” The spokesperson also highlighted Nvidia’s foundational role, stating that the company “has underpinned our breakthroughs from the start, powers our systems today, and will remain central as we scale what comes next,” underscoring the ongoing importance of their collaboration.

Refuting the narrative of a strained relationship, Jensen Huang was quoted by Bloomberg as insisting that Nvidia would “definitely participate” in OpenAI’s latest funding round. He justified this commitment by calling it “such a good investment.” Huang unequivocally stated, “We will invest a great deal of money,” and expressed strong conviction in OpenAI, hailing their work as “incredible” and labeling them “one of the most consequential companies of our time.” While confident in the investment, Huang notably declined to specify the exact amount Nvidia would contribute, deferring to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, stating, “Let [OpenAI CEO Sam Altman] announce how much he’s going to raise — it’s for him to decide.”

These discussions unfold against the backdrop of OpenAI reportedly seeking to raise a substantial $100 billion in a funding round, as reported by the WSJ in December. More recent information from The New York Times suggests that a consortium of major technology players, including Nvidia, Amazon, Microsoft, and SoftBank, are all engaged in discussions regarding potential investments, highlighting the intense interest and significant capital flowing into the burgeoning AI sector.

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