SAN FRANCISCO, February 3, 2026, 12:36 PST
- Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang announced the chipmaker will participate in OpenAI’s upcoming funding round, dismissing rumors of any tension
- OpenAI is testing different options for certain AI “inference” tasks to achieve quicker response times
- Oracle’s renewed push into OpenAI-related data centers and its fresh financing strategy have come under the spotlight again
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang dismissed rumors of a fallout on Tuesday, reaffirming the company’s commitment to investing in OpenAI. He called the chatter “no drama.” Cnbc
OpenAI’s spending plans are crucial since they sit at the heart of the AI supply chain — covering chips, cloud capacity, and data centers. Any hiccup there quickly rattles suppliers’ financing and forecasts. Nvidia shares dropped roughly 3.6% in afternoon trading, with Oracle sliding about 4%.
Huang told CNBC that Nvidia plans to join OpenAI’s upcoming fundraising round and may back its future IPO. “We will invest in the next round,” he confirmed. Reuters
On Monday, a report revealed that OpenAI is dissatisfied with certain newer AI chips from Nvidia used for “inference”—the process where a trained model delivers answers—and has been exploring alternatives since last year. Sources also highlighted inference as an emerging battleground, with companies racing to achieve faster, more cost-effective AI responses. Reuters
Huang sought to lower expectations about the size of any investment. Over the weekend in Taipei, he described the $100 billion figure as “nothing like that” and stressed it was “never a commitment.” He added that Nvidia would invest “one step at a time,” according to the Times of India. Indiatimes
The uncertainty isn’t just hitting OpenAI’s chip supplier—it’s spilling over to its partners, too. The Wall Street Journal points out that Oracle’s stake in OpenAI’s cloud deal is under fresh scrutiny, as investors question how solid OpenAI’s backing is for its long-term infrastructure commitments. Wsj
Oracle, banking on OpenAI-driven demand to justify a sharp capacity boost, plans to raise $45 billion to $50 billion in 2026 via debt and stock sales. Guggenheim analysts noted, “Oracle is not only saying they’re committed to investment-grade debt,” while Barclays added that the funding mix should “strengthen Oracle’s balance sheet.” Reuters
Despite the funding plan, some investors still worry that the hundreds of billions funneled into AI infrastructure might not deliver quick returns. AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould noted Oracle’s prospects seem “heavily tied to OpenAI,” and Jefferies cautioned that the financing might pressure margins and push back a return to positive free cash flow.
On the tech front, sources in the earlier report said OpenAI has looked into various options—from rival GPUs to specialized inference chips. That includes collaborations with Advanced Micro Devices and talks with startups like Cerebras and Groq. The aim is clear: boost speed. More on-chip memory, specifically SRAM (a fast embedded memory), cuts down data retrieval time during inference, a crucial factor for coding assistants and other tools where latency is key.
Nvidia highlighted that customers choose its hardware for inference due to “best performance and total cost of ownership” when scaling up. An OpenAI spokesperson confirmed they continue to rely on Nvidia for the bulk of their inference fleet, citing “best performance per dollar” from the company’s gear for that task.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman pushed back publicly, saying Nvidia makes the “best AI chips in the world” and that OpenAI aims to stay a “gigantic customer.” Oracle separately dismissed Nvidia-OpenAI investment rumors, saying they have “zero impact” on its financial ties with OpenAI. Indianexpress
The risk is clear: if OpenAI’s funding drags on or if it moves a significant portion of its inference work off Nvidia gear, suppliers might end up with costly capacity expansions and less guaranteed spending. Another key uncertainty is structural — many of the large figures being tossed around are intentions or invitations, not finalized agreements.
Huang’s current stance is clear: Nvidia remains a key player, though the $100 billion target isn’t set in stone. The real test lies ahead, depending on what OpenAI reveals about its upcoming funding round—both in scale and timing—and how fast that money converts into chip and cloud capacity orders.
