OpenAI reportedly has its own issues with Nvidia after Jensen Huang's underwhelming support

By Steve Goldstein

OpenAI is reportedly frustrated with the performance of Nvidia microchips.

The artificial intelligence story is turning more dramatic after a published report that ChatGPT maker OpenAI has concerns about the quality of Nvidia's microchips, just after CEO Jensen Huang walked back his company's plans to invest in the large language model creator.

A Reuters report, citing eight sources, said that OpenAI is dismayed with Nvidia performance in what's called inference, basically the every day tasks an LLM like ChatGPT has to conduct. The speed issue is less with ChatGPT and more with its coding product called Codex, the report said.

The report said OpenAI discussed working with startups Cerebras and Groq specifically for inference, but the Groq talks ended after Nvidia struck a $20 billion licensing deal.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang

The Reuters report came after the Wall Street Journal reported that Nvidia (NVDA) was concerned about OpenAI's spending and its ability to compete with Anthropic, maker of the popular Claude model, and Alphabet's (GOOGL) Google, which makes Gemini.

Speaking to reporters, Huang said Nvidia still planned to invest in OpenAI but stressed that a September announcement that it would invest up to $100 billion in the company was an "invitation" and not a commitment.

After the Reuters story was published, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman praised Nvidia.

"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," he said in a social-media posting. "I don't get where all this insanity is coming from."

The stakes are incredibly high for both companies. OpenAI is looking to go public, possibly as early as this year, while burning through cash at a rapid rate. Although Nvidia is on firmer financial footing, a disruption to OpenAI, the company that popularized generative AI with the release of ChatGPT, would be a big setback.

In the middle is Oracle (ORCL), which over the weekend announced plans to raise up to $50 billion.

"The Nvidia-OpenAI deal has zero impact on our financial relationship with OpenAI," Oracle said on Monday. "We remain highly confident in OpenAI's ability to raise funds and meet its commitments."

-Steve Goldstein

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02-03-26 0340ET