NVIDIA's potential $100 billion deal with OpenAI signals a shift in tech industry leadership.

NVIDIA's AI platforms rely on its GPU chips, which are well-suited as AI accelerators because of their parallel processing capabilities. GPUs can process data across multiple cores simultaneously, unlike CPUs, which handle data sequentially, one task at a time.

The first phase of the new OpenAI partnership is expected in the latter half of 2026, utilizing the NVIDIA Vera Rubin platform. This platform, NVIDIA's next-generation AI and data center architecture succeeding Blackwell, is designed for large rack systems to manage substantial data volumes. It is named after a pioneering astronomer.

NVIDIA's founder and CEO, Jensen Huang, commented that NVIDIA and OpenAI have driven each other for a decade, from the first DGX supercomputer to ChatGPT. He added that this investment and infrastructure partnership mark the next leap forward by deploying 10 gigawatts to power the next era of intelligence.

OpenAI's cofounder and president, Greg Brockman, stated that his company has worked closely with NVIDIA since its early days and has used NVIDIA's platform to create AI systems used by hundreds of millions of people. He added that the company is excited to deploy 10 gigawatts of compute with NVIDIA to push the frontier of intelligence.

With over 700 million weekly active users, OpenAI expects the NVIDIA partnership to aid in developing AI solutions to benefit humanity. The deal is anticipated to be completed in the coming weeks.

As AI dominates tech, NVIDIA's stock has become a key indicator for the sector, with a market value of $4.34 trillion, surpassing Apple's $3.78 trillion. Microsoft's stock, also boosted by AI, holds the second position at $3.79 trillion, slightly ahead of Apple.

Microsoft has invested $13 billion in OpenAI, structured as a profit-sharing agreement for 49% of OpenAI Global, LLC, the for-profit part of OpenAI. Microsoft receives 49% of this unit's profits annually until a specified cap is reached.

Alphabet, Google's parent company, is also a major player in AI with Gemini and has a market value of $3.06 trillion. Its shares have increased by 55% over the past year, exceeding NVIDIA's 47% gain. Microsoft's stock has risen 18.7%, and Apple's shares have increased nearly 12% year-over-year.

This shift in leadership indicates the early stages of AI development.

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