Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA) stock rose Tuesday after OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman publicly reaffirmed his company’s commitment to the U.S. chipmaker.
Altman Reaffirms Support for Nvidia
In a post on X, Altman said Nvidia makes “the best AI chips in the world” and added that OpenAI intends to remain a major customer “for a very long time.” He also brushed aside the growing wave of speculation, calling it "insanity."
“We love working with NVIDIA and they make the best AI chips in the world. We hope to be a gigantic customer for a very long time. I don’t get where all this insanity is coming from,” he posted.
The comments came after Reuters reported that OpenAI has grown dissatisfied with some of Nvidia’s newest AI chips and has been exploring alternatives since last year, citing people familiar with the matter. The report also said the situation could put at risk Nvidia’s reported $100 billion investment in the AI startup, heightening investor concern.
OpenAI Looks Beyond Nvidia for Inference
According to the Reuters report, OpenAI’s interest in alternative chips is tied to its increasing focus on inference, the process that allows AI systems such as ChatGPT to generate responses to users in real time. While Nvidia remains the dominant force in training large AI models, inference is emerging as a key battleground, drawing competition from rival chipmakers.
Wedbush Sees Strategic Upside
Separately, worries over circular financing and OpenAI becoming "too big to fail" have made Nvidia's planned investment one of the market's most closely watched issues. Wedbush analyst Dan Ives called the debate a constructive validation moment rather than a warning sign. He said Nvidia's potential $100 billion investment is a strategic masterstroke, adding that CEO Jensen Huang is backing Altman while retaining leverage to avoid empowering competitors such as Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) (NASDAQ:GOOG) Google.
NVDA Price Action: Nvidia shares were up 0.59% at $186.70 during premarket trading on Tuesday, according to Benzinga Pro data.
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