Nvidia nears deal to invest US$20 billion in OpenAI round

[SAN FRANCISCO] Nvidia is nearing a deal to invest US$20 billion in OpenAI as part of its latest funding round, according to sources familiar with the matter, marking the chipmaker’s single biggest investment in the ChatGPT developer.

Nvidia’s contribution is close to being completed, according to the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the information is not public. The deal is not final and the terms could change.

OpenAI declined to comment. Nvidia declined to comment.

OpenAI is looking to raise up to US$100 billion in funding for a new round, with much of that coming from large tech firms, Bloomberg News has reported. Amazon.com has had discussions to invest as much as US$50 billion and SoftBank Group has held talks to invest as much as US$30 billion. The Financial Times previously reported Nvidia might invest as much as US$20 billion.

Nvidia and OpenAI have been linchpins of the AI boom, but their relationship has come under new scrutiny in recent days amid reports of tensions between the two firms. The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that a plan that Nvidia announced in September to invest as much as US$100 billion in OpenAI overall had stalled after some inside the chip giant expressed doubts about the deal.

The chief executives of both companies have since publicly said that they remain committed to working together. “We will definitely participate in the next round of financing because it’s such a good investment,” Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang told reporters while visiting Taipei on Saturday. He added that it would potentially be “the largest investment we have ever made”. BLOOMBERG