On September 22nd, Nvidia and OpenAI announced a partnership that includes plans to build a massive data center and Nvidia's largest investment commitment to OpenAI, up to $100 billion (approximately 711.5 billion yuan). According to the agreement, OpenAI will utilize Nvidia systems to build and deploy at least 10 gigawatts of AI data centers for training and running next-generation models. 10 gigawatts is equivalent to 4 to 5 million graphics processing units (GPUs), which is roughly equal to Nvidia's total shipments this year and twice as much as last year.
This is a massive project, "Nvidia CEO Renxun Huang, OpenAI CEO Altman, and President Brockman said in an interview. Both parties stated that Nvidia will gradually invest with the launch of each gigawatt data center, with the first phase expected to be launched in the second half of 2026, based on Nvidia's Vera Rubin platform. The details of the cooperation will be finalized in the coming weeks. OpenAI currently has over 700 million weekly active users, and its ChatGPT service requires massive computing power support. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman stated in a statement, "It all starts with computing power. Computing infrastructure will become the foundation of the future economy, and we will leverage the technology system we have built together with NVIDIA to achieve new breakthroughs in the field of artificial intelligence on one hand, and empower individuals and businesses with these technologies on a large scale on the other." This investment has significant strategic implications for NVIDIA.
Bryn Talkington, Managing Partner of Requisite Capital Management, told the media: "Nvidia investing $100 billion in OpenAI, and then OpenAI returning the money to Nvidia, will be a very virtuous cycle for Huang Renxun. This collaboration will help Nvidia ensure that its devices remain at the core of AI system construction, especially in the context of OpenAI's foray into the hardware field, including self-developed chips. Maintaining OpenAI as a major client may help Nvidia consolidate its market position when considering competitor components in the industry. However, some people have raised concerns about this collaboration, believing that it may harm the competitive landscape of the industry. Andre Barlow, an antitrust lawyer at Doyle, Barlow&Mazard law firm, pointed out that this collaboration may bundle Nvidia's monopoly advantage in the chip field with OpenAI's leading position in software, making it more difficult for Nvidia's competitors in the chip field (such as AMD) or OpenAI's competitors in the large model field to scale up. Recently, Nvidia has frequently invested in industry related companies. Last week, Nvidia announced a $5 billion investment in Intel and will collaborate with them to develop chips. In addition, Nvidia has invested approximately $700 million in UK data center startup Nscale to build a UK version of Stargate, enhancing the country's autonomous computing capabilities.
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