Nvidia CEO Defends Billions in AI Startup Financing

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang defended the company's strategy of providing extensive financial support to artificial intelligence startups and data center projects, calling the current era a once-in-a-generation opportunity. Following fiscal second-quarter results that saw revenue more than double to $96.2 billion, Huang argued that the capital-intensive nature of AI requires unprecedented funding, noting that some startups need tens of billions of dollars to reach profitability.

Nvidia has invested in model developers including OpenAI and Anthropic and is providing $105 billion for a computing campus in Ohio. To further support infrastructure, the company partnered with Wall Street firms to arrange up to $500 billion in data center financing.

Huang rejected allegations of circular financing, a practice where a company funds customers to purchase its own products. He argued that the risk is low because computing infrastructure can be reassigned if a client fails.