Nvidia has partnered with major Wall Street banks and investors to secure $500 billion (£370 billion) in capital for artificial intelligence infrastructure.
The chipmaker announced agreements with Apollo, BlackRock, Blackstone, Brookfield, Goldman Sachs, and KKR. These investors are now recognizing AI hardware and infrastructure, often called "compute," as a distinct asset class.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang stated, "In AI, compute is revenue. We are bringing the world's leading long-term capital providers together to independently underwrite AI infrastructure."
This funding will support both Nvidia's internal projects and those of its partners. Projects likely to benefit include the construction of new data centers to house and manage the extensive computer chips required for AI processing, as well as new factories to manufacture these essential AI chips and increase their availability.
KKR co-chief executives Joe Bae and Scott Nuttall commented, "Compute has become a critical infrastructure asset. As we've scaled our approach to digital infrastructure, we've learned that delivery, not ambition, is the hard part."
Nearly all major technology and AI companies rely on Nvidia's graphics processing units (GPUs) to power their AI services and platforms. "Nvidia is absolutely enormous and produces these chips that everybody needs for AI and it needs to keep facilitating the growth of AI," said Jane Sydenham, senior investment manager at Rathbones. However, she also expressed concern: "The worry is that more and more money is going into these projects. Are they all going to earn the right return for the future?"
Companies such as Google, Meta, Amazon, Microsoft, SpaceX, Tesla, OpenAI, and Anthropic are among those using Nvidia's GPUs. These companies have collectively invested over $1 trillion in AI projects and infrastructure in the past three years, with further significant spending anticipated. This demand has contributed to a fivefold increase in Nvidia's stock market value over the same period.
Huang described Nvidia's role as a chip-maker as its origin, adding, "Today, we are helping create a new class of productive, investable infrastructure: AI factories."
The new access to funding from these financial partners will enable further expansion of the AI boom.
Jim Zelter, president of Apollo, noted, "Modern compute has emerged as a scarce, mission-critical asset class" and is "positioned to drive significant long-term economic growth and productivity gains."
Last month, BlackRock entered into an individual agreement with Meta to finance and acquire a majority stake in a data center in Texas. Anthropic has also recently secured investment for its AI infrastructure from Macquarie Asset Management and Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC. Anthropic cited the immense popularity of its chatbot Claude and the resulting demand for significant new compute resources as the reason for needing further financing.
