People with knowledge of ongoing negotiations say Nvidia, Microsoft and Amazon are in discussions to provide up to $60 billion in capital to OpenAI as the artificial intelligence developer attempts to secure financing for expansive AI and data-center ambitions.
Within those talks, Nvidia is reportedly exploring an investment as large as $30 billion, while Microsoft and Amazon are each considering multi-billion dollar contributions, according to the individuals familiar with the matter.
The potential commitments form part of a wider fundraising effort by OpenAI to raise up to $100 billion to support the company’s AI research and the construction and operation of data-center capacity. The contemplated financing would peg the ChatGPT maker’s valuation at about $830 billion.
Earlier this week, reports indicated that Japanese technology conglomerate SoftBank was in talks to contribute up to $30 billion, on top of a $41 billion investment it completed in December. SoftBank and OpenAI have also embarked on a $500 billion project called Stargate, intended to build AI data centers in the United States.
Those involved in or tracking the negotiations emphasize that discussions remain ongoing and that terms, including final amounts and timing, have not been finalized. The prospective investments would involve major players across semiconductors, cloud services and e-commerce, reflecting the broad industry interest in scaling generative AI capabilities and the physical infrastructure needed to support them.
As negotiations proceed, the outcome will determine how OpenAI finances a substantial portion of its hardware and data-center strategy and will shape the roles its largest partners play in that expansion. For now, participants are described as weighing large, multi-year commitments that would align capital providers with OpenAI’s deployment plans.
Summary
A coalition of major technology firms - led by Nvidia and including Microsoft and Amazon - is negotiating to invest up to $60 billion in OpenAI as the company seeks to raise up to $100 billion to fund AI development and data-center build-out. Nvidia is reportedly considering as much as $30 billion, and SoftBank has previously been involved with multibillion-dollar investments and a $500 billion Stargate data-center initiative with OpenAI.