Nvidia commits $40b to AI in early 2026

Nvidia has committed more than US$40 billion to equity investments in AI companies in the first months of 2026, including a US$30 billion investment in OpenAI.

The chipmaker has also pledged up to US$3.2 billion in US glassmaker Corning and as much as US$2.1 billion to data center operator IREN.

Nvidia has announced seven multibillion-dollar investments in publicly traded companies this year, while also participating in about two dozen funding rounds for private startups, according to FactSet data.

Some analysts have criticized the strategy because Nvidia is investing in some of its own customers, and the deals fit a pattern of circular investment, said Matthew Bryson, analyst at Wedbush Securities.

🔗 Source: TechCrunch

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Nvidia’s deals go beyond equity stakes

IREN gave Nvidia a five-year warrant, a security that lets it buy shares later, for up to US$2.1 billion in stock 1.
A separate US$3.4 billion contract had IREN provide managed GPU cloud services with Nvidia Blackwell platform systems at its Childress, Texas campus 1.
In Corning’s case, Nvidia gained the right to invest as much as US$3.2 billion in the glassmaker 2.
OpenAI’s US$30 billion investment came after a non-binding plan that would have let Nvidia invest up to US$100 billion over time as OpenAI deployed Nvidia systems, though that larger plan “never got off the ground” after OpenAI moved away from building data centers 2.

Nvidia’s circular deal structure faces scrutiny

These circular deals can manufacture demand when Nvidia money returns as revenue after the recipient buys Nvidia graphics processing units (GPUs) 3.
That has prompted calls for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the main U.S. markets regulator, to require separate disclosure of revenue from companies in which a firm holds an equity stake 3.
The worry is that close financial ties among chipmakers, cloud providers, and AI labs create systemic risk, meaning trouble at one company could spread across the AI sector 3.
Some policy experts argue that the Financial Stability Oversight Council, a U.S. body that watches threats to the financial system, should review that interdependence because it could leave the AI ecosystem “too entangled to fail” 3.