In a marked retreat from a landmark $100 billion commitment announced just five months ago, NVIDIA is close to finalizing a significantly smaller $30 billion investment in OpenAI as part of the ChatGPT maker’s massive funding round, according to sources familiar with the matter.
The scaled-down investment represents a fundamental restructuring of how the world’s most valuable technology company approaches its strategic partnerships in the AI infrastructure space. Unlike the original September 2025 agreement, which was structured as a letter of intent for OpenAI to purchase NVIDIA’s chips and deploy them in data centers, the new arrangement is a direct equity stake with no commensurate commitment for OpenAI to buy NVIDIA hardware.
“The investment would highlight increasingly intertwined relationships among major technology companies racing to build advanced AI systems, as chip suppliers, cloud providers and model developers deepen financial and strategic ties,” Reuters reported, citing a source familiar with the matter.
OpenAI is seeking to raise more than $100 billion in this funding round, which would value the company at approximately $730 billion to $830 billion, making it one of the largest private capital raises in history. Other participants reportedly include SoftBank Group and Amazon, with Microsoft also expected to maintain or increase its stake. This valuation would place OpenAI just behind SpaceX as one of the world’s most valuable privately held companies.
The shift in NVIDIA’s strategy comes amid mounting scrutiny of so-called “circular deals” between major AI players. When NVIDIA announced its original $100 billion commitment in September 2025, the news briefly pushed the chipmaker’s market capitalization above $5 trillion and sparked heated debate about the circular nature of investments where companies essentially paid each other. The original deal would have seen NVIDIA provide funding that OpenAI would then use to purchase NVIDIA’s chips for its AI infrastructure.
“That all appeared to change earlier this month, when reports surfaced that NVIDIA’s intent was never a firm commitment – and OpenAI was looking elsewhere for chips to power its systems,” The Guardian reported. The news reportedly shook markets already febrile over concerns that AI agents would replace jobs and decimate the market for global software companies.
NVIDIA had planned to invest an initial $10 billion once both parties reached a definitive agreement for OpenAI to purchase NVIDIA systems. However, the agreement ended up taking much longer than expected, according to the source, and ultimately never materialized in its original form.
The changing nature of the deal reflects broader shifts in the AI infrastructure landscape. OpenAI has begun diversifying its chip suppliers beyond NVIDIA, announcing strategic partnerships with AMD and Broadcom. The company is also reportedly working with Broadcom to create its own AI chip hardware and network systems, reducing its dependence on any single supplier.
However, even this diversification effort faces uncertainties. Broadcom’s chief executive, Hock Tan, told investors in December that the company did “not expect much in 2026” over the OpenAI investment, adding another layer of complexity to the AI infrastructure supply chain.
The timing of NVIDIA’s adjusted investment approach also coincides with intensifying competition in the AI model space. ChatGPT’s market share has declined from 86.7% to 64.5% over the past year, while Anthropic – which raised $30 billion in a funding round earlier this month – is now valued at approximately $365 billion, roughly half of OpenAI’s expected valuation. Anthropic has reportedly begun working with investment bankers and chosen a law firm, signaling plans for a potential IPO in 2026.
At NVIDIA’s most recent earnings call, CEO Jensen Huang emphasized the company’s ecosystem strategy. When asked about NVIDIA’s growing list of strategic investments – from Anthropic to OpenAI and others, which are also NVIDIA customers – Huang stated that it all comes back to building a comprehensive platform.
“We want to take the great opportunity that we have as we’re in the beginning of this new computing era,” Huang said according to Business Insider. “We want to make sure that everything from large language models to robotics is built on NVIDIA’s platform.”
The company has also announced partnerships with other major AI players, including a non-exclusive licensing agreement with xAI’s Grok for its low latency inference technology. More details are expected at NVIDIA GTC 2026, scheduled for March.
Despite the scaled-back OpenAI investment, industry analysts note that the AI infrastructure spending boom shows no signs of slowing. Research indicates that OpenAI, Anthropic, and the so-called “Magnificent Seven” technology companies are set to pour approximately $1 trillion into AI infrastructure by 2026, with investments spanning GPUs, data centers, and power infrastructure.
The nature of these evolving partnerships underscores the complex web of dependencies in the AI industry. As companies race to build advanced AI systems, the lines between chip suppliers, cloud providers, and model developers continue to blur, with strategic investments and partnerships becoming the primary mechanism for securing competitive advantages in the infrastructure that powers the AI revolution.
OpenAI’s next funding round is expected to close in the coming weeks, with the company planning to use much of the fresh capital to purchase AI chips from various suppliers, including but not limited to NVIDIA. The final structure of NVIDIA’s $30 billion investment remains subject to final negotiations.
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Written by: JuniorWriter
