Nvidia To Invest $100 Billion In OpenAI For Data Centers

Nvidia Corp. will invest as much as $100 billion in OpenAI to support the building of new data centers and the infrastructure needed to power artificial intelligence workloads.

The two signed a letter of intent for a strategic deal, the companies said Monday in a statement. 

The investment is intended to help OpenAI build data centers with a capacity of 10 gigawatts of power using Nvidia’s advanced AI chips to train and deploy OpenAI’s models.

“Everything starts with compute,” OpenAI Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman said in the statement. “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 appears to be using its financial might to make sure the company’s gear remains at the heart of the buildout of AI systems. Keeping OpenAI, which is diving into hardware including its own chips, as a major customer may help the chipmaker cement that position as the industry looks at rivals’ components.

OpenAI’s ChatGPT is used by roughly 700 million people a month, 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. On Sunday, Altman posted on social media that his company will be launching some new compute-intensive offerings.

Nvidia and OpenAI didn’t provide details on its investment in OpenAI or when it will occur. Representatives for Nvidia didn’t immediately return a request for comment.

In the statement, the companies said they “look forward to finalizing the details of this new phase of strategic partnership in the coming weeks.”

Nvidia share rose as much as 3.1% in New York trading. That brings its gains to about 36% this year.