Shares in Nvidia dipped on Monday (02.02.26) after the semiconductor giant clarified reports that Nvidia had pulled back from its pledge for the ChatGPT company and that any funding would be decided incrementally.
Speaking to reporters in Taipei, Taiwan, Huang said Nvidia had been invited to invest “up to $100 billion” as part of OpenAI’s ambitious data centre expansion plans, but stressed the agreement was non-binding.
He said: “They invited us to invest up to $100 billion and of course, we were, we were very happy and honored that they invited us, but we will invest one step at a time.”
Nvidia’s comments followed a Wall Street Journal report suggesting the September letter of intent between the two companies had stalled internally, with some Nvidia executives expressing concern over OpenAI’s spending discipline and rising competition from rivals such as Google and Anthropic.
Huang pushed back strongly on suggestions of tension, calling claims that he was unhappy with OpenAI “nonsense”.
The original agreement outlined plans to help OpenAI build AI data centers with at least 10 gigawatts of capacity - roughly equivalent to New York City’s peak power demand - largely powered by Nvidia’s advanced AI chips.
However, Huang said the pace of deployment was ultimately “up to OpenAI”, underlining Nvidia’s arm’s-length role in the infrastructure buildout.
Despite Huang’s reassurance, uncertainty over the size and timing of the investment rattled investors.
Nvidia shares fell around 1.8 per cent in premarket trading on Monday (02.02.26), with analysts pointing to confusion rather than fundamentals as the key driver.
The episode has also reignited debate over the “circular” nature of AI investments, where chipmakers fund companies that are also major customers.
Nvidia recently announced a further $2 billion investment in CoreWeave, another key buyer of its hardware, fuelling questions about how sustainable demand is without continued capital recycling.
For now, Huang remains bullish, as he described OpenAI as “one of the most consequential companies of our time” and confirmed Nvidia would participate in its current funding round - just not with a $100 billion cheque.
