Nvidia is playing many parts in the AI gold rush, a top business guru says

Nvidia is playing multiple roles in the AI boom, from selling chips to investing in and financing AI companies, according to Rob Lalka, a business professor at Tulane University. Lalka said Nvidia has invested or committed tens of billions of dollars in OpenAI, Anthropic, and xAI, and holds stakes in data center firms like CoreWeave and Nebius. The company recently partnered with Apollo and KKR to raise $500 billion for AI infrastructure, and its revenue grew 85% year-on-year to about $82 billion in the quarter ended April 26.

Nvidia https://www.businessinsider.com/nvidia is playing many positions on the AI pitch, a leading business professor says. "If AI is a modern-day gold rush, then Nvidia is not only selling the picks; they're also shareholders in the mines themselves, and now they're becoming the bank that's lending to all the prospectors," Rob Lalka https://www.businessinsider.com/sneaky-truth-ai-layoffs-switcheroo-meta-microsoft-2026-3 told Business Insider in an email. Lalka, a business professor at Tulane University and the author of "The Venture Alchemists: How Big Tech Turned Profits into Power," described Nvidia's meteoric rise over the past two decades, from making graphics cards for video games to becoming the world's most valuable company and the linchpin of the AI boom https://www.businessinsider.com/nvidias-circular-ai-deals-investor-stock-cds-price-jensen-huang-2026-7 . Nvidia has invested or committed https://www.businessinsider.com/openai-anthropic-ai-ipo-spacex-stocks-stock-market-investing-trade-2026-6 tens of billions of dollars to OpenAI, Anthropic, and xAI, and has equity stakes in scores of AI startups that buy its hardware, Lalka said. The chipmaker also holds stakes in data center specialists https://www.businessinsider.com/coreweave-stock-price-earnings-nebius-nbis-ai-nvda-cpi-2026-8 that need its processors, such as CoreWeave and Nebius, he continued. Lalka highlighted Nvidia's latest financing agreement https://www.businessinsider.com/nvidia-turning-massive-cash-pile-into-next-competitive-moat-2026-8 with some of Wall Street's biggest names, including Apollo and KKR, to raise $500 billion for AI infrastructure built around Nvidia chips. Nvidia did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Nvidia's web of deals https://www.businessinsider.com/big-techs-ai-love-fest-getting-messy-openai-oracle-2025-10 has made it the beating heart of the AI boom, as it sells the semiconductors that power the technology, and invests in and finances the array of companies buying its chips. Several high-profile commentators have warned https://www.businessinsider.com/mark-cuban-michael-burry-nvidia-ai-deals-boom-microchips-infrastructure-2026-7 that the AI ecosystem's reliance on Nvidia could cause problems. Mark Cuban https://www.businessinsider.com/mark-cuban-net-worth-2018-9 , the tech billionaire of "Shark Tank" fame, recently posted on X that Nvidia is playing a similar role to the IPO market during the dot-com boom as it's "funding everyone and anyone." "One breakthrough in another chip provider, or a misstep, and it all could crumble https://www.businessinsider.com/steve-hanke-ai-yann-lecun-meta-hype-bubble-stocks-hyperscalers-2026-2 ," Cuban added. "It's truly scary." Michael Burry https://www.businessinsider.com/big-short-michael-burry-substack-ai-bubble-stock-picks-bitcoin-2025-12 , the investor of "The Big Short" fame who called the subprime mortgage crisis, has used the same analogy as Lalka. He wrote https://www.businessinsider.com/big-short-michael-burry-substack-blog-nvidia-ai-dotcom-bubble-2025-11 in November that, like Cisco during the dot-com boom, Nvidia was "at the center of it all, with the picks and shovels for all and the expansive vision to go with it." Burry recently posted on X that Nvidia is "overreaching" as it hustles to push circular spending to "biblical proportions." Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has acknowledged https://www.businessinsider.com/jensen-huang-market-nvidia-quarter-meeting-2025-11 just how reliant the AI boom and the global economy are on his company's success. Describing online memes on the topic in November, he said: "We're basically holding the planet together — and it's not untrue." Nvidia has broadly met sky-high expectations so far. It grew revenue by 85% year-on-year to about $82 billion in the three months ended April 26, fueling a 211% surge in net income to $58 billion.