NVIDIA's largest investment commitment! Investing $100 billion to help OpenAI build a 10GW data center

NVIDIA adds fuel to the frenzy of AI infrastructure construction for tech companies.

On Monday, September 22, Eastern Time, NVIDIA announced a memorandum of understanding with OpenAI to establish a strategic partnership. OpenAI will utilize NVIDIA's systems to build and deploy at least 10 gigawatts (GW) of AI data centers, using millions of NVIDIA graphics processing units (GPUs) to train and deploy OpenAI's next-generation AI models.

To support this milestone strategic partnership, NVIDIA plans to invest up to $100 billion in OpenAI. This is NVIDIA's largest investment commitment to date. The investment will be phased in as each 1GW system is deployed, with the first 1GW capacity NVIDIA system scheduled to go live in the second half of 2026, utilizing the NVIDIA Vera Rubin platform.

After the announcement of the investment in OpenAI's large-scale data center deployment, NVIDIA's stock, which had initially dropped 1.1% at the beginning of trading on Monday, quickly turned positive and surged at the start of the U.S. midday trading, with gains expanding to over 4%. It reached a daily high with a 4.5% increase, closing up more than 3.9%, setting a new closing historical high, and slightly retreating in after-hours trading.

"Massive" Project: 10GW Equivalent to Up to 5 Million GPUs

NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang stated that the scale of the collaboration with OpenAI is massive, highlighting the close relationship between NVIDIA and OpenAI.

Huang revealed to the media on Monday that the 10GW capacity is equivalent to 4 million to 5 million GPUs. This equals NVIDIA's total shipment volume for the entire year, "which is double that of last year." He said:

"This is a huge project."

Huang previously mentioned in a conference call following the earnings report that the cost of building a 1GW data center capacity ranges from $50 billion to $60 billion, with about $35 billion allocated for purchasing NVIDIA chips and systems. Based on this calculation, the total investment scale for the 10GW project will reach several hundred billion dollars.

OpenAI currently has over 700 million weekly active users, and its ChatGPT service requires intensive computing power support. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman stated on social media last Sunday that OpenAI will launch some new compute-intensive products in the coming weeks, and due to the high associated costs, some features will initially be available only to Pro subscribers.

Positive Statements from Executives

Huang, in a joint interview with Altman and OpenAI President Greg Brockman, stated:

"NVIDIA and OpenAI have pushed each other for a decade, from the first DGX supercomputer to the breakthroughs of ChatGPT. This investment and infrastructure partnership marks the next leap—deploying 10GW (computing power) to drive the next intelligent era." Altman emphasized in a statement: "Computing infrastructure will become the foundation of the future economy, and we will leverage the infrastructure built in collaboration with NVIDIA to create new AI breakthroughs and empower individuals and businesses on a large scale."

He also stated, "In the coming months, you should have high expectations of us." OpenAI must excel in three areas: conducting outstanding AI research, creating products that people want to use, and addressing unprecedented infrastructure challenges.

Brockman stated: "We have closely collaborated with NVIDIA since the early days of OpenAI, utilizing their platform to create AI systems that hundreds of millions of people use every day. We are excited to deploy 10GW of computing power with NVIDIA, advancing the frontiers of intelligence and extending the benefits of this technology to everyone."

Strategic Significance and Market Impact

This investment holds significant strategic importance for NVIDIA. Bryn Talkington, managing partner of Requisite Capital Management, told the media: "NVIDIA invests $100 billion in OpenAI, and then OpenAI returns the money to NVIDIA, which will be a very positive cycle for Jensen Huang."

The collaboration helps NVIDIA ensure that its equipment remains central to the construction of AI systems, especially against the backdrop of OpenAI venturing into hardware, including self-developed chips. Maintaining OpenAI as a major customer may help NVIDIA solidify its market position when competitors consider alternative components.

Jensen Huang stated that the investment announced this Monday is "a supplement to all announced and signed projects," suggesting that it exceeds the financial expectations previously disclosed to Wall Street.

David Bader, director of the Data Science Institute at New Jersey Institute of Technology, commented that the timing of this announced collaboration indicates that NVIDIA is "diversifying its layout in terms of geography (supply chain) and strategy (AI value chain)," adding, "This is more like infrastructure construction rather than speculative behavior." Bader also said:

"This collaboration indicates that AI infrastructure has evolved into a mature asset class. We are witnessing a trend of vertical integration in the AI technology stack—from chips to training to deployment. NVIDIA is no longer just a hardware supplier but has become an important partner in the AI economic ecosystem it is driving."

Altman Calls NVIDIA and Microsoft the Most Important Partners

This collaboration reflects NVIDIA's recent aggressive investment expansion strategy. Last week, NVIDIA announced a $5 billion investment in Intel and stated that the two companies would collaborate on AI processors. NVIDIA also invested nearly $700 million in UK data center startup Nscale.

Last week, media reports indicated that NVIDIA also spent over $900 million to hire AI startup Enfabrica's CEO Rochan Sankar and other employees, and licensed the company's technology.

For OpenAI, this collaboration complements its deep infrastructure building efforts with Microsoft, Oracle, SoftBank, and Stargate project partners. In recent secondary market transactions, investors valued OpenAI at $500 billion, with Microsoft, SoftBank, and Thrive Capital among its investors In a media interview, Altman referred to NVIDIA and Microsoft as "passive" investors and "most important partners" of OpenAI.

The announcement from NVIDIA and OpenAI on Monday did not disclose details such as the timeline for the $100 billion investment. The two companies stated that they look forward to finalizing the details of this new phase of strategic partnership in the coming weeks