Nvidia Confirms Nonbinding $100 B OpenAI Deal, Invests $2 B in CoreWeave
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang clarified that its planned $100 billion investment in OpenAI was nonbinding and “up to” that amount rather than a commitment. Meanwhile, Nvidia increased its CoreWeave stake by $2 billion, following previous $1 billion Eli Lilly, $4.9 billion Intel and $20 billion Groq AI partnerships.
1. CEO Clarifies OpenAI Commitment
On February 1 in Taipei, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang emphasized that the oft-quoted $100 billion figure linked to OpenAI was never a binding pledge but rather an invitation to invest “up to” that amount. This clarification stems from a letter of intent signed last September, which outlined a nonbinding framework for Nvidia to support OpenAI’s data-centre expansion. Huang reiterated that Nvidia will proceed “one step at a time,” underlining that any capital deployment will follow traditional approval processes rather than hinge on a single, large-scale commitment.
2. Shares React to Stalled Deal Reports
Following a Wall Street Journal report suggesting internal doubts about the OpenAI arrangement, Nvidia’s share price slipped by approximately 2% in premarket trading on Monday. Company insiders, cited anonymously by the Journal, expressed concerns over OpenAI’s strategic discipline and competitive positioning. Despite that downturn, Nvidia continues to trade at a premium relative to broader tech indices, reflecting sustained investor confidence in its leadership in graphics processing and AI compute infrastructure.
3. Continued Strategic Investments in AI Ecosystem
Over the past quarter, Nvidia deployed over $8 billion across four strategic partnerships: a $2 billion equity stake in CoreWeave to bolster data-centre capacity; a $1 billion co-innovation collaboration with a leading pharmaceutical firm; a $4.9 billion alliance with a semiconductor peer to advance next-generation processor designs; and a $20 billion acquisition of assets and talent from an AI-focused startup. Together, these transactions highlight Nvidia’s dual objective of securing incremental capacity while driving full-stack software and hardware integration across the AI supply chain.
4. Investor Takeaways and Portfolio Implications
Investors should weigh the nonbinding nature of the OpenAI letter of intent against Nvidia’s demonstrated willingness to capitalize on technology downturns—evidenced by its recent accumulation of high-quality AI assets at marked discounts. Analysts at Deutsche Bank have upgraded several of Nvidia’s investment targets in partner firms, projecting up to 50% appreciation over the next twelve months for companies in which Nvidia holds stakes. For portfolios seeking AI-driven growth, Nvidia’s balanced approach to deal size, timing and valuation discipline may help mitigate downside risk if broader tech markets enter a correction phase.