Nvidia’s investments in Elon Musk’s xAI, Perplexity, OpenAI and other startups set to cross $1 billion mark in 2024 – Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD), Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN)

NVIDIA Corporation NVDA Invested $1 billion in 50 startup financing rounds. this Jen-Hsun HuangLeading companies have also acquired a number of AI vendors to consolidate their position in the field.

what happened: The semiconductor giant’s investment surged, up 15% from $872 million spent in 2023, according to company filings and Dealroom research. The investments are aimed at companies developing core artificial intelligence technologies, which typically require extensive computing infrastructure, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday.

The investment spree has been fueled by Nvidia’s $9 billion in cash reserves, fueled by unprecedented demand for its graphics processing units since ChatGPT’s debut two years ago. The company’s market capitalization exceeded $3 trillion in June, and its stock price has risen more than 170% in 2024.

Notable investments include Muskof xAIfighting side by side with competitors AMD AMDand participated in the financing round of a well-known artificial intelligence model provider Open artificial intelligence, coherent, Mistraland Puzzled. The company has also acquired a number of artificial intelligence software companies, including Run: Ai, nebulaand Octo Artificial Intelligence.

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why it’s important: This active investment strategy is because major clients like Microsoft Corporation Microsoft Corporation, amazon.com Amazonand alphabet inc. Google Google The push to develop its own custom chips could make smaller AI companies more important to Nvidia’s future revenue.

The expansion has drawn attention from antitrust regulators. Bill KovacicThe former FTC chairman noted that competition regulators are particularly interested in examining whether such investments are intended to achieve market exclusivity.

According to the report, Nvidia rejected the suggestion that its investment is tied to technical requirements, saying that it “competes and wins based on strength and is independent of any investment.” The company emphasized that its portfolio companies remain free in their technology choices.

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