Nvidia has now committed over $40 billion across public-equity bets in 2026, its single biggest year as an investor. This week alone it locked in up to $2.1B for data center operator IREN and up to $3.2B for 175-year-old glassmaker Corning. The OpenAI deal, originally pitched at $30B, never closed because OpenAI pivoted toward Oracle, Microsoft and Amazon for capacity instead. Nvidia is using its position as the picks-and-shovels supplier to take stakes in everyone digging.
Feels like the company is locking in customers and supply chain at the same time, in equity form. Not many CEOs have that lever.