Nvidia CEO Dismisses $100B OpenAI Partnership as Unlikely

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has publicly stated that a $100 billion partnership between Nvidia and OpenAI is 'probably not in the cards,' tempering investor enthusiasm for a mega-transaction in the AI infrastructure space. The remark marks a notable pivot from earlier speculation that Nvidia, already a dominant supplier of AI chips, might deepen its alliance with OpenAI through a massive financial or equity-based agreement. The statement carries significant weight given Nvidia’s pivotal role in the global AI supply chain. With its data center GPU sales fueling demand across cloud providers and AI startups, any major collaboration with OpenAI—whose generative AI models rely heavily on Nvidia hardware—had been widely anticipated. The absence of such a deal could signal a recalibration in how tech giants structure AI partnerships, favoring incremental integration over transformative equity arrangements. Key numbers underscore the strategic stakes: Nvidia’s data center revenue reached $39.5 billion in fiscal Q1 2026, up 153% year-over-year, driven largely by AI workloads. Meanwhile, OpenAI’s valuation remains above $150 billion, though it has yet to report profitability. The implied $100 billion deal would have represented a significant capital infusion and potential equity stake for Nvidia, but Huang’s dismissal suggests such a move is no longer on the near-term horizon. Market reaction followed the announcement, with NVDA shares dropping 2.4% in after-hours trading. The broader tech sector also felt the ripple, as AMD and Microsoft—both key players in AI infrastructure—saw their stocks decline by 1.7% and 1.1%, respectively. The VIX index briefly spiked to 22.6, reflecting increased volatility in tech-oriented equities.