So here’s the tea: Wall Street had a mini meltdown Friday when the Wall Street Journal dropped a bombshell claiming Nvidia’s leather-jacket-wearing CEO Jensen Huang was having second thoughts about dropping $100 billion on OpenAI. Apparently, he was privately questioning whether Sam Altman’s crew could actually handle that much cash without lighting it on fire.
The market did what it does best – panicked. Investors started spiraling about whether Microsoft, Amazon, and SoftBank would also bail, potentially turning OpenAI’s fundraising dreams into a very expensive nightmare.
But then Huang did what any self-respecting tech CEO does when the rumor mill gets out of hand: he went full damage control mode. Speaking in Taipei on Saturday, he basically called the WSJ report “nonsense” and doubled down harder than a Vegas high roller.
“We are going to make a huge investment in OpenAI,” Huang declared, probably while adjusting his signature leather jacket. “I believe in OpenAI… they are one of the most consequential companies of our time and I really love working with Sam.” Then came the kicker: “We will invest a great deal of money, probably the largest investment we’ve ever made.”
The Numbers Game
Here’s where it gets spicy. OpenAI is currently trying to raise up to $100 billion (yes, with a B) to fund their AI world domination plans. We’re talking about a company valuation that could hit $830 billion – which would make it worth more than most countries’ GDP.
The funding circus includes Amazon potentially throwing in $50 billion, SoftBank adding another $30 billion, and various Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds because apparently everyone wants a piece of the AI action.
But when pressed about that eye-watering $100 billion figure, Huang pumped the brakes: “No, no, nothing like that.” Translation: we’re talking big money, but not “buy a small country” money.
Nvidia’s Betting History
To put this in perspective, Nvidia’s biggest bet so far was a $2 billion investment in CoreWeave (think AI data centers on steroids) back in January. That deal gave them about 13% ownership and secured over $6 billion in cloud services through 2032. Not exactly pocket change.
If the OpenAI investment tops that – and Huang’s comments suggest it will – we’re looking at Nvidia’s most ambitious play yet in the AI arms race.
The Bottom Line
Huang’s weekend clarification was classic CEO crisis management: acknowledge the concerns, reaffirm the partnership, but don’t commit to anything crazy. The $100 billion figure was never set in stone anyway – it was more like a “wouldn’t it be cool if” number that got leaked to the press.
What’s clear is that Nvidia isn’t backing down from AI. They’re just being smart about how much they’re willing to bet on OpenAI’s ability to stay ahead of Google, Anthropic, and every other tech giant trying to build the next ChatGPT killer.
In the end, this whole drama probably helped both companies – Nvidia looks like the responsible partner, and OpenAI gets to keep the fundraising hype train rolling. Win-win, assuming they don’t actually set $100 billion on fire.