Nvidia’s Dealmaking Binge Faces a Reckoning After Jensen Huang’s Exit

AI Summary

Jensen Huang’s sudden resignation could prompt Nvidia to scale back its extensive investments and financial commitments to AI startups, cloud providers, and AI labs. The company’s recent dealmaking reportedly totaled $140 billion in two months, putting firms expecting Nvidia funding—including Anthropic—at risk.

In the last three years, Nvidia has emerged as one of the most active backers of AI startups, small cloud providers and frontier AI labs—largely thanks to CEO Jensen Huang’s unrelenting focus on ensuring continued, strong demand for its specialized AI chips. With his sudden resignation late Wednesday, that source of cash now looks at risk. Venture capitalists, startup founders and semiconductor executives say they expect Nvidia to pull back on its frenetic dealmaking pace, which totaled $140 billion, including massive credit guarantees, in just two months this year. That activity includes showering cash on big chip users—Nvidia plans to put $10 billion into Anthropic’s initial public offering next week. But the most vulnerable could be the companies in the middle of funding rounds in which Nvidia is expected to invest.