Nvidia’s really made a name for itself in the AI world, especially with the boom of platforms like ChatGPT. This surge has not only pumped up its revenue and stock prices but also led to some serious investments in AI startups.
In 2024, Nvidia stepped up its game in venture capital, jumping into 49 funding rounds compared to 34 the year before, according to PitchBook. And that’s not even counting the deals made by its corporate VC arm, NVentures, which also got busier, participating in 24 deals in 2024, a big leap from just 2 in 2022. Nvidia’s strategy is all about backing ‘game changers and market makers’ in the AI scene.
Among its standout investments, Nvidia threw $100 million into OpenAI’s massive $6.6 billion funding round. Sure, it’s smaller compared to Thrive’s $1.3 billion, but it’s still a notable chunk. Nvidia also joined the $6 billion funding round for xAI, Elon Musk’s venture, showing they’re keen on diversifying their AI interests.
Nvidia’s commitment to AI innovation is also seen in its investment in Inflection, a startup by DeepMind co-founder Mustafa Suleyman. They had some initial buzz, but faced staffing hurdles after selling a big tech license to Microsoft.
In the autonomous driving space, Nvidia put money into Wayve’s $1.05 billion round. Wayve is working on self-learning systems for autonomous vehicles. Nvidia also teamed up with big names like Amazon and Meta to support Scale AI with a $1 billion investment, boosting data-labeling services for training AI models.
Other strategic moves include investing in Crusoe’s $686 million round for data centers and Figure AI’s $675 million Series B, highlighting Nvidia’s interest in robotics. They also backed Mistral AI with a $640 million investment to push forward large language models.
In the sub-billion-dollar range, Nvidia’s shown interest in a variety of technologies, from AI cloud services by Lambda to AI-native data management by Weka. Notably, Nvidia’s investment in CoreWeave has seen the startup’s valuation skyrocket and its services expand, including renting Nvidia GPUs.
These investments highlight Nvidia’s commitment to shaping the future of AI by supporting innovative startups. By strategically diversifying its portfolio, Nvidia continues to make a significant impact on the AI sector.
