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Over the past two years, NVIDIA has leveraged its rapidly growing wealth to actively invest in more than 80 artificial intelligence startups, establishing itself as a leader in the AI space. Since the launch of ChatGPT, NVIDIA’s revenue and stock price have surged, fueling a wave of investment in AI startups.
According to PitchBook, NVIDIA participated in 49 funding rounds for AI companies in 2024, a significant increase from 34 rounds in 2023, and far more than the 38 AI-related deals it made in the previous four years combined. NVIDIA’s investment strategy focuses on backing startups deemed as “game changers and market creators.”
Among its investments is NVIDIA’s early support of OpenAI, where it contributed USD 100 million to a USD 6.6 billion funding round—though this amount was relatively insignificant compared to other investors. NVIDIA also took part in Elon Musk’s xAI’s USD 6 billion funding round, signaling its broad ambitions in the AI field.
One of the most notable investments is the USD 130 million NVIDIA put into Inflection, a company founded by DeepMind co-founder Mustafa Suleyman. Despite significant changes within Inflection over just a year, NVIDIA’s investment underscores its strong confidence in AI technologies.
In addition, NVIDIA has joined several other major funding rounds, investing in companies like Wayve, Scale AI, and Crusoe, demonstrating its wide-ranging interest in sectors such as autonomous driving, data labeling, and cloud computing. NVIDIA’s involvement goes beyond financial support—it also aims to foster the AI ecosystem to maintain its competitive edge in the future.
As NVIDIA continues to expand its investment portfolio, upcoming AI startups are likely to benefit from its backing, enabling greater innovation and market impact.
(Photo credit: NVIDIA)