Nvidia Invests $5B in Sam Altman-Backed AI Startup SSI on July 27

According to Financial Times and Bloomberg, on July 27, Nvidia announced a $5 billion investment in Safe Superintelligence (SSI), an AI startup founded by former OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever. The funding will support SSI in deploying Nvidia's next-generation Vera Rubin AI systems and scaling computing capacity tenfold over the next 12 months.

The investment is part of Nvidia's broader $750 billion AI ecosystem strategy, which includes discussions to provide OpenAI up to $250 billion in payment guarantees for data center operations and $350 billion in financing for semiconductor purchases, alongside a $500 billion partnership with SK Group. Critics have raised concerns about "circular financing," where Nvidia-backed companies purchase Nvidia chips, potentially inflating chip demand signals.