Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang confirmed Tuesday that the chipmaker will participate in OpenAI's upcoming fundraising round, pushing back on reports that a planned $100 billion investment had stalled.
"There's no drama involved. Everything's on track," Huang told CNBC's Jim Cramer. He added that Nvidia would invest in what he called "the largest private round ever raised in history" and would consider participating in an eventual OpenAI IPO.
The comments follow a Wall Street Journal report over the weekend claiming the deal was "on ice," prompting Nvidia shares to fall 3.4% and contributing to broader tech stock declines. Nvidia is down 13% from October highs.
The original September announcement outlined a letter of intent for Nvidia to invest up to $100 billion in tranches as OpenAI builds AI infrastructure requiring 10 gigawatts of power using Nvidia's technology. But an November SEC filing noted no final agreement, raising questions about whether the announcement was substantive.
Huang appeared to reframe the investment structure, calling it "huge" but not an outright $100 billion commitment. The planned deployment would support millions of GPUs starting in H2 2026 with Nvidia's Vera Rubin platform.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman posted Monday that "we love working with NVIDIA and they make the best AI chips in the world." The statement comes as OpenAI has publicly stated it lacks sufficient computing power to meet demand from ChatGPT's 700 million weekly users.
Notably, OpenAI has been diversifying its chip suppliers despite Nvidia's dominance. Recent deals with AMD, Broadcom, and Cerebras suggest the AI lab is hedging against GPU shortages and Nvidia's market position.
The real test comes when capital commitments move beyond letters of intent. OpenAI's fundraising discussions could raise up to $100 billion, with a combined pool from Nvidia, Microsoft, and Amazon totaling around $60 billion. For enterprise leaders tracking AI infrastructure buildouts, the timeline and scale of actual deployments matter more than announcement figures.
Nvidia maintains roughly 67% institutional ownership and a $4.38 trillion market cap. The company's supply chain dominance in AI infrastructure remains unchallenged, even as customers explore alternatives.