For the first time, Nvidia is investing in OpenAI purely for equity — no chip deals, no circular commitments, no conditional strings. The $30 billion investment represents a clean break from the controversial structure of last year’s $100 billion arrangement, which dissolved amid questions about its legitimacy and circular nature.
OpenAI’s upcoming funding round is shaping up to be one of the largest in private company history. At an expected $730 billion valuation, the ChatGPT creator is approaching a scale rarely seen outside the public markets. Amazon, SoftBank, and Microsoft are among the other investors reportedly set to participate, making this a who’s-who of global technology investment.
The collapse of the original deal earlier this month sent a ripple through financial markets that were already on edge about the future of artificial intelligence and its economic impact. Reports confirmed that Nvidia’s $100 billion “letter of intent” was never a binding commitment, and that OpenAI had privately been exploring chip alternatives even as the deal was being publicly celebrated.
Nvidia’s decision to maintain its relationship with OpenAI despite these revelations speaks to the strategic importance of staying connected to the world’s most visible AI brand. An equity stake in OpenAI gives Nvidia a financial interest in the success of the broader AI ecosystem, regardless of which chips power it.
That said, the road ahead for OpenAI is far from smooth. Its market share in the AI assistant space has dropped by more than 20 percentage points in a single year. Its cash burn remains a source of concern for observers, and its advertising experiment has sparked a notable backlash from rival Anthropic, which used the opportunity to position itself as a cleaner, more principled alternative.
Nvidia Drops the Chip Strings: $30 Billion OpenAI Investment Comes with No Purchase Commitment
