Nvidia, Wall Street firms target $500 billion for AI infrastructure

Nvidia has partnered with six major financial institutions to launch financing platforms aimed at mobilizing more than $500 billion in third-party capital for artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure.

The chipmaker said on Monday it had signed memorandums of understanding with Apollo Global Management, BlackRock, Blackstone, Brookfield Asset Management, Goldman Sachs and KKR.

The platforms are designed to help AI developers, enterprises, governments and cloud providers finance access to Nvidia-based computing infrastructure as demand for AI computing capacity continues to surge.

Under the model, customers could tap institutional credit, insurance capital and private funds to finance data centers and computing equipment rather than relying entirely on their own balance sheets.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said the approach reflects a broader shift in how investors view AI computing infrastructure.

"This is really the first time that technology chips have become an investable asset class," Huang told CNBC. "These are revenue-generating assets now. They're productive, they're long-lived, they're fungible, they're flexible."

The push comes as major technology companies continue to pour hundreds of billions of dollars into AI infrastructure. Their combined spending is expected to exceed $730 billion this year, according to Reuters.

Nvidia said the financing platforms would create dedicated pools of capital for customers as companies and governments race to secure the computing power needed to train and run increasingly advanced AI models.

The initiative could also broaden funding channels for the AI buildout, as large asset managers and private capital firms increasingly seek exposure to digital infrastructure and technology companies face growing scrutiny over the cost and returns of their AI spending.

The $500 billion figure represents a target for capital to be mobilized rather than funding already committed. Nvidia has not disclosed financial terms, individual investment commitments, or a timetable for deploying the planned capital.