TMTPOST --   Nvidia   Corporation on Monday jumped over   3.9% to   settle   at   $183.61, hitting its   close   record   after   the artificial intelligence ( AI )   chip   titan   unveiled   a milestone   partnership with   OpenAI.  

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Nvidia and OpenAI   announced   they agreed a letter of intent on a strategic partnership to deploy at least 10 gigawatts   ( GW )   of Nvidia   systems for OpenAI ’ s next-generation AI infrastructure to train and run its next generation of models on the path to deploying superintelligence, a hypothetical AI   system that exceeds the powers of the human brain. A GW, equal to one bilion watts, is a measure of power that is increasingly being used to describe the biggest clusters of AI chips.

To   support   the planned deployment   including data center and power capacity, Nvidia   made   its   largest-ever spend   commitment. It intends to invest up to $100 billion in OpenAI as the new   Nvidia   systems are deployed. The first phase is targeted to come online in the second half of 2026 using the Nvidia   Vera Rubin platform. Vera Rubin   is   a combination   of   Rubin GPU, the   successor   to   Nvidia ’ s latest advanced   Blackwell   graphic   processing unit,   and Vera   CPU,   Nvidia ’ s first custom central processor unit.

"Nvidia   and OpenAI have pushed each other for a decade, from the first DGX supercomputer to the breakthrough of ChatGPT," said Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang   in a joint statement. "This investment and infrastructure partnership mark the next leap forward — deploying 10 gigawatts to power the next era of intelligence."

Huang touted   OpenAI ’ s deployment   as "a giant   project "   in an   interview with CNBC   on Monday.   The 10GW   is equal to between 4 million and 5 million GPUs,which is what Nvidia will ship in total this year and "twice as much as last year,"   Huang said.   He   also said the   $100   billion investment is   "additive to everything that ’ s been announced and contracted" ,   hinting   its beyond   anything Nvidia   has told   Wall Street   about   its financial   forecast.

OpenAI will work with Nvidia   as a preferred strategic compute and networking partner for its AI factory growth plans. The two companies   will work together to co-optimize their roadmaps for OpenAI ’ s model and infrastructure software and Nvidia ’ s hardware and software, according to the   joint   statement.

This partnership complements the deep work OpenAI and Nvidia   are already doing with a broad network of collaborators, including Microsoft, Oracle, SoftBank and other   partners   of   Stargate, focused on building the world ’ s most advanced AI infrastructure.   Stargate is a   joint venture   created   by OpenAI, SoftBank   and Oracle   which plan   to pour   $500 billion   over   the next four years into 10GW   AI   infrastrucure   in the U.S.

The statement didn ’ t disclose how   Nvidia ’ s committed funds would be   allocated   or timetable of OpenAI ’ s   total   datacenter   project. The pairs said   they will   finalize   the details   of the   new strategic partnership in   the coming weeks.   

OpenAI   CEO   Sam Altman   in   the interview alongside Huang   called   Nvidia   and Microsoft,   OpenAI ’ s   biggest investor, as "passive"   investors and   two of the company ’ s "most critical partners".  

Altman said only Nvidia had the capability to enable an AI infrastructure buildout at this type of enormous scale and speed. Without the infrastructure being outlined in the deal, OpenAI wouldn't be able to provide its services, according to   the chief   executive.

"We can't keep making better models," Altman said. "And now that we really see what's on the near-term horizon of how good the models are getting, the new use cases that are being enabled, what people want to do, this is like the fuel that we need to drive improvement, to drive better models, to drive revenue, everything."

"I feel like this is going to be very virtuous for Jensen,"   Bryn Talkington, managing partner at Requisite Capital Management   told CNBC   after the   announcement, noting that OpenAI will turn back   and give   the investment   back to   Nvidia.  

The timing of the latest deal suggests Nvidia is "diversifying both geographically ( supply chain ) and strategically ( across the AI value chain ) . This looks more like infrastructure building than bubble behavior," David Bader, the director of the Institute for Data Science at the New Jersey Institute of Technology   commented.

"This partnership represents the maturation of AI infrastructure as a legitimate asset class," Bader   said. "We're witnessing the formation of vertical integration in the AI stack - from chips to training to deployment. Nvidia isn't just selling hardware anymore; they're becoming equity partners in the AI economy they're enabling."