NVIDIA invests in OpenAI to co-establish a new AI laboratory, providing large-scale GPU computing power support

According to a report by the WSJ, Nvidia has invested in the AI laboratory Safe Superintelligence (SSI), founded by former OpenAI chief scientist Ilya Sutskever. The two parties have reached a long-term cooperation agreement aimed at expanding SSI's computing resources while helping Nvidia secure important clients in the AI field. Both companies stated that Nvidia made a "large-scale" investment after understanding some of SSI's research progress, but did not disclose the specific amount.

As part of the collaboration, SSI will receive a significant amount of Nvidia's flagship GPU resources, with its computing power expected to increase by an order of magnitude. Previously, SSI primarily relied on TPU chips provided by Google for AI research and development. This collaboration indicates that Nvidia is further expanding its AI chip ecosystem and binding future computing power demands through investments in top AI laboratories.

SSI was established in 2024 by Ilya Sutskever, with the goal of developing "Safe Superintelligence." The company has previously raised about $2 billion in funding, with investors including Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia Capital, and reached a valuation of approximately $30 billion last year. This is not Nvidia's first investment in an AI company founded by former core members of OpenAI. In March of this year, Nvidia also invested in Thinking Machines Lab, founded by former OpenAI chief technology officer Mira Murati, whose first AI model is trained on Nvidia hardware.

Ilya Sutskever is one of the important researchers in the field of modern artificial intelligence, having co-founded OpenAI and promoted the development of large model technologies such as ChatGPT. However, after leaving OpenAI, he began to question the approach of solely relying on expanding data and computing power to drive AI progress, turning instead to explore new directions in superintelligence research.