Nvidia’s Jensen Huang denies OpenAI deal rumors: ‘There’s no drama’

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said the chipmaker’s plan to invest in OpenAI remains “on track” after recent reports suggested brewing tension between the two sides.

“There’s no drama involved. Everything’s on track,” Huang told CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Tuesday. The full interview will air later in the day on “Mad Money.”

In September, Huang appeared with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman to announce a letter of intent that would involve his company investing up to $100 billion in the artificial intelligence lab in tranches. OpenAI would build AI infrastructure based around Nvidia’s technology requiring up to 10 gigawatts of power.

But an SEC filing in November said the deal had not been finalized, and concern has mounted in the months since that the announcement was little more than a press release. Over the past weekend, The Wall Street Journal reported that the deal was “on ice.”

Nvidia shares fell more than 3.4% today, leading a broad decline in tech stocks, and are 13% off their high reached in October.

Huang said Tuesday that Nvidia would invest in OpenAI’s next fundraising round, which he called the “largest private round ever raised in history.” OpenAI is engaging in fundraising discussions for a round that could raise as much as $100 billion, CNBC reported last month.

“We will invest in the next round,” Huang said. “There is no question about that.”

He said Nvidia would consider investing in any future OpenAI round and wants to participate in an eventual OpenAI IPO.

OpenAI has used Nvidia’s graphics processing units to build and serve its AI models since the company was founded.

But in recent months, Altman has said that OpenAI doesn’t have enough chips to meet demand for its products such as ChatGPT, and that it could generate more revenue with increased computing power. OpenAI has been striking chip deals with Nvidia competitors including Advanced Micro Devices, Broadcom, and Cerebras.

In a post on X on Monday, Altman responded to the chatter about his company’s relationship with Nvidia.

“We love working with NVIDIA and they make the best AI chips in the world,” he wrote. “We hope to be a gigantic customer for a very long time. I don’t get where all this insanity is coming from.”

WATCH: Nvidia and OpenAI respond to reports about their relationship