Nvidia CFO says chipmaker yet to finalize $100 billion OpenAI deal
Dec 2 (Reuters) – Nvidia (NVDA) agreement with ChatGPT parent company OpenAI (OPAI.PVT) is still not finalizing a decision to invest up to $100 billion in the startup, Colette Kress, the chipmaker’s chief financial officer, said Tuesday at the UBS Global Technology and Artificial Intelligence Conference in Arizona.
Kress’ comments add to the debate surrounding the partnership connecting two of the industry’s most important players artificial intelligence It is at the center of growing concerns about race and circular deals in the AI ecosystem.
The world’s most valuable company in September announced its letter of intent to invest in OpenAI in a deal that includes the initial deployment of at least 10 gigawatts of Nvidia systems, enough capacity to power more than 8 million U.S. homes.
“We haven’t finalized a definitive agreement yet, but we’re working with them,” Kress said in response to questions about the framework of Nvidia’s deal with OpenAI.
OpenAI, the startup at the heart of the generative AI boom that began with the launch of ChatGPT in late 2022, is “a major customer of Nvidia chips,” as well as major cloud providers that account for a large portion of the chipmaker’s sales.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said the company has $500 billion in reservations for its advanced chips by 2026.
Chips Nvidia could provide to OpenAI once its deal is completed are not included in those reservations and will increase the number, Kress said Tuesday.
“That half a trillion doesn’t include any of the work we’re currently doing on the next part of the deal with OpenAI,” he said.
Nvidia shares rose 2.6%.
Last year, Nvidia made a series of deals with AI startups and also invested in companies that were big customers, raising concerns on Wall Street about so-called AI bubbles and cyclical deals.
Nvidia announced last month that it plans to commit up to $10 billion to OpenAI rival Anthropic. Kress said the Anthropic deal could also add to Nvidia’s $500 billion chip reservations.
(Reporting by Arsheeya Bajwa in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid)
