Nearly 700 billion. The largest single financing in history is coming.

According to a report by Zhidongxi on February 4th, today, Bloomberg reported that NVIDIA is close to finalizing an investment agreement worth up to $20 billion (about RMB 138.75 billion) to participate in OpenAI's latest round of financing. This will be NVIDIA's largest investment ever.

OpenAI's total target for this round of financing is $100 billion (about RMB 693.75 billion). In addition to NVIDIA, Amazon and SoftBank Group are also in talks for large - scale investments.

Among them, Amazon plans to invest up to $50 billion (about RMB 346.875 billion), and SoftBank is considering investing $30 billion (about RMB 208.125 billion).

This round of financing will value OpenAI at approximately $830 billion (about RMB 57.5 trillion).

While there have been multiple speculations about the relationship between NVIDIA and OpenAI, Jensen Huang, the founder and CEO of NVIDIA, publicly responded in Taipei, China recently that NVIDIA will definitely participate in OpenAI's next - round financing and said that it "might be our largest investment in history."

Currently, the agreement has not been finalized, and the terms may still change. Both OpenAI and NVIDIA declined to comment on this.

01 OpenAI Raises $100 Billion, NVIDIA Makes Its Largest Investment Ever

The new round of financing that OpenAI is seeking has become the largest - scale financing event in the AI industry to date. This huge - scale financing is attracting the active participation of several global technology giants such as Amazon, SoftBank, and NVIDIA.

Among them, Amazon has discussed investing up to $50 billion (about RMB 346.875 billion), and SoftBank is also in talks for a funding plan of up to $30 billion (about RMB 208.125 billion).

Regarding NVIDIA, foreign media reported, citing people familiar with the matter, that its investment agreement with OpenAI is close to completion and is currently in the final stage.

If it is finally implemented, this will be NVIDIA's largest single investment to date, representing its further in - depth participation in the software ecosystem beyond AI chips.

02 The Massive Deal Is Uncertain, NVIDIA and OpenAI Speak Out to Clear Doubts

Although NVIDIA and OpenAI have long been regarded as important partners in the AI ecosystem, their relationship has received more external attention recently.

The Wall Street Journal reported last week that NVIDIA proposed an investment plan in September last year that could potentially reach $100 billion (about RMB 693.75 billion) in total. However, due to internal doubts within NVIDIA about the deal, the plan was stalled for a while, and the deal negotiation, originally expected to be completed within a few weeks, has been delayed for months.

In response, Jensen Huang, the founder and CEO of NVIDIA, clearly stated during his visit to Taipei, China last Saturday: "We will definitely participate in OpenAI's next - round financing because it is a very good investment."

He further revealed that this investment "might be our largest investment in history." At the same time, Jensen Huang also denied the outside speculation that he was dissatisfied with OpenAI.

Meanwhile, Bloomberg previously reported that OpenAI was not entirely satisfied with some of NVIDIA's latest AI chips and had started looking for alternatives since last year. This situation is also considered to potentially complicate their relationship.

After the above report was released, Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, publicly responded that NVIDIA produces "the world's best AI chips," and OpenAI hopes to "continue to be NVIDIA's super - large customer for a long time."

With the deal not yet finally signed and the terms still subject to adjustment, the successive statements from the top management of both sides are regarded as an important signal to stabilize the cooperation expectations under high external attention.

03 Conclusion: The Tie - up between Chips and Models May Go Beyond Computing Power Transactions

If NVIDIA finally invests $20 billion in OpenAI, it means that the tie - up between AI infrastructure and leading model developers will be further deepened. Under the trend of the integration of chips, models, and platform ecosystems, capital is accelerating its concentration on a very small number of super - players.

This potentially record - breaking investment also sends a signal: the capital intensity required for the large - scale deployment of AI will far exceed that of the traditional Internet era. In the future, the relationship between model companies and chip companies may evolve from a "customer - supplier" relationship to a deep - binding model of "joint - venture and co - construction."

This article is from the WeChat official account “Zhidongxi” (ID: zhidxcom). Author: Jiang Yu. Republished by 36Kr with authorization.