OpenAI and NVIDIA have signed a letter of intent for a landmark strategic partnership that will see the deployment of at least 10 gigawatts of NVIDIA systems dedicated to OpenAI’s next-generation AI infrastructure. The project, aimed at advancing the path to superintelligence, will be backed by up to $100 billion in investment from NVIDIA as the systems are rolled out. The first phase is expected to come online in the second half of 2026, built on the NVIDIA Vera Rubin platform.
NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang highlighted the decade-long collaboration between the two companies, describing the deal as “the next leap forward by deploying 10 gigawatts to power the next era of intelligence.” OpenAI’s cofounder and CEO Sam Altman emphasized compute as the foundation of the future economy, while president Greg Brockman pointed to NVIDIA’s platform as instrumental in building AI systems already used by hundreds of millions of people.
Under the agreement, NVIDIA will serve as OpenAI’s preferred compute and networking partner. Both firms will co-optimize their hardware and software roadmaps, aligning NVIDIA’s platforms with OpenAI’s evolving models and infrastructure. The move complements ongoing collaborations with Microsoft, Oracle, SoftBank, and Stargate partners, all focused on advancing global AI infrastructure.
With OpenAI reporting over 700 million weekly active users and strong adoption across enterprises and developers, the partnership underscores the growing demand for large-scale AI compute. It also highlights the escalating investment race in AI factories, where infrastructure buildout is increasingly central to the competition among technology leaders. Final terms of the partnership are expected in the coming weeks.
