Amazon, SoftBank and others are racing to partner with OpenAI, betting closer ties will sharpen their competitive edge in AI.
NVIDIA is nearing a deal to invest about $20 billion in OpenAI as part of the artificial intelligence company’s latest funding round, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters.
The ChatGPT maker is seeking to raise as much as $100 billion in the round, which would value the company at roughly $830 billion, as reported by Reuters. The NVIDIA investment has not yet been finalised and discussions are ongoing, the source said.
Competition to deepen ties with OpenAI has intensified, with companies such as Amazon and SoftBank Group racing to form partnerships. Firms are betting that closer relationships with the fast growing AI developer will provide a strategic advantage as demand for advanced models and computing power accelerates.
The talks mark a revival of discussions that have stretched on for months. The Wall Street Journal recently reported that NVIDIA’s earlier plan, unveiled in September, to invest up to $100 billion in OpenAI and supply data centre chips had stalled after the chipmaker raised concerns about the structure of the deal.
NVIDIA chief executive Jensen Huang has pushed back against suggestions of tension between the companies. He said at the weekend that NVIDIA plans to make a huge investment in OpenAI, potentially its largest ever, and told CNBC that the company would also consider backing OpenAI’s future fundraising rounds and any eventual stock market listing.
OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman later said NVIDIA makes the best AI chips in the world and that OpenAI hopes to remain a major customer for years to come.
