Jensen Huang says Nvidia would love to invest in a future OpenAI IPO.
Huang said in an interview on CNBC’s “Mad Money” on Tuesday that there was “no drama” between Nvidia and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, pushing back against recent chatter of tension in the relationship between the two companies.
“The first deal is on,” the Nvidia CEO said, referring to the company’s September deal with OpenAI, under which the company said it planned to invest up to $100 billion in the AI startup.
“And then there’s, of course, an IPO in the future,” he added. “We love to be participating in that as well,” he added.
Huang also described OpenAI as a “once in a generation company” and said Nvidia is “delighted to invest in it.”
His comments come amid reports suggesting internal unease around the deal.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday that the investment had sparked internal concerns at Nvidia, with some executives questioning the deal, according to people familiar with the matter.
Separately, Reuters reported on Tuesday that OpenAI had been unhappy with certain newer Nvidia chips and had looked at alternatives since last year, citing people familiar with the matter.
Huang told reporters in Taipei on Saturday that speculation of any dissatisfaction with OpenAI was “nonsense.”
“We will invest a great deal of money, probably the largest investment we’ve ever made,” he added.
Altman has also pushed back on rumors of tension.
“We love working with NVIDIA and they make the best AI chips in the world,” wrote Altman in a post on X on Tuesday.
“We hope to be a gigantic customer for a very long time. I don’t get where all this insanity is coming from,” he added.
OpenAI is one of the world’s most valuable private AI companies and a major customer for Nvidia’s chips, which power the training and deployment of large language models.
The startup has not announced plans for an IPO, but its fundraising and computing needs have fueled speculation about how it will finance future growth.
“Big Short” investor Michael Burry said in a Substack exchange in January that he was surprised that ChatGPT “kicked off a multi-trillion-dollar infrastructure race.”
“It’s like someone built a prototype robot and every business in the world started investing for a robot future,” he wrote.
