In a move that solidifies the fusion of AI hardware and software, Nvidia has agreed to invest up to $100 billion in OpenAI, linking the two titans in an unprecedented partnership aimed at dominating the future of artificial intelligence.

SAN FRANCISCO & BENGALURU, September 23, 2025 – Nvidia Corp. (NVDA.O), the world’s leading chipmaker, will invest up to $100 billion in OpenAI and become its primary supplier of advanced data center chips, the companies announced Monday. The deal effectively merges the trajectory of the most powerful AI infrastructure provider with the most influential AI software company, potentially creating an insurmountable lead in the global AI race.

The agreement, which sent Nvidia's shares to a record high, underscores how the interests of tech giants are converging as they vie for AI supremacy. For Nvidia, the investment secures a massive, long-term commitment from its most important customer. For OpenAI, it provides the immense capital and guaranteed access to the advanced semiconductors it needs to develop increasingly powerful models like GPT-4o and its successors.

"Everything starts with compute," said OpenAI CEO Sam Altman in a statement. "Compute infrastructure will be the basis for the economy of the future, and we will utilize what we're building with Nvidia to both create new AI breakthroughs and empower people and businesses with them at scale."

A Circular Deal with a Grand Vision

According to a source familiar with the matter, the deal is structured as two intertwined transactions. Once finalized, Nvidia will make an initial investment of $10 billion in OpenAI for non-voting shares. OpenAI will then use that capital to purchase Nvidia’s cutting-edge chips and computing systems.

The two companies signed a letter of intent to deploy at least 10 gigawatts of Nvidia systems—a staggering amount of computing power equivalent to the annual electricity needs of over 8 million U.S. households. The first gigawatt of computing power, based on Nvidia's upcoming "Vera Rubin" platform, is scheduled to come online in the second half of 2026.

Antitrust Scrutiny and Industry Implications

The sheer scale of the partnership is expected to attract significant antitrust scrutiny. The U.S. Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission have already laid the groundwork for probes into the AI industry's dominant players.

"The deal could change the economic incentives of Nvidia and OpenAI as it could potentially lock in Nvidia's chip monopoly with OpenAI's software lead," said Andre Barlow, an antitrust lawyer with Doyle, Barlow & Mazard. "It could make it more difficult for Nvidia competitors like AMD or OpenAI’s rivals in AI models to compete at scale."

However, analysts note that the pro-business stance of the Trump administration may pose a lighter regulatory hurdle than under the previous administration.

The announcement had immediate ripple effects across the tech sector. Shares of Oracle (ORCL.N), a key data center partner for OpenAI, also rose sharply. The news comes amid a flurry of industry alliances, including Microsoft's deep investment in OpenAI, and a recent collaboration between Nvidia and Intel.

OpenAI's Balancing Act

A critical question raised by analysts is how this deal impacts OpenAI's relationship with Microsoft, its primary backer, and its own rumored efforts to develop custom AI chips to reduce reliance on Nvidia. A source close to OpenAI stated the deal does not change its ongoing compute plans, including its partnership with Microsoft or its internal chip design project, reportedly code-named "Titan," with Broadcom (AVGO.O) and TSMC. Broadcom shares dipped slightly on the news.

Bernstein analyst Stacy Rasgon called the deal "positive for Nvidia" but highlighted the "circular" nature of the financing. "On the one hand this helps OpenAI deliver on some very aspirational goals... On the other hand the 'circular' concerns have been raised in the past, and this will fuel them further."

The partnership marks a new chapter in the AI boom, one where the lines between investor, supplier, and competitor are blurring beyond recognition, setting the stage for both unprecedented innovation and intense regulatory battles.

Reporting by Deepa Seetharaman, Akash Sriram, and Stephen Nellis; Editing by Peter Henderson.