OpenAI’s Sam Altman teases more massive infrastructure deals as Nvidia CEO reacts to AMD partnership surprise

In a striking moment during a CNBC appearance, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman hinted at additional significant partnerships in the pipeline, coinciding with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's unexpected reaction to OpenAI's recent multibillion-dollar agreement with AMD. Huang candidly admitted he was unaware of the AMD deal before its announcement, stating, "Not really," when asked if Nvidia had prior knowledge. The partnership between OpenAI and AMD is notable within the competitive landscape of AI hardware. Under the terms of this agreement, AMD will provide OpenAI stock potentially worth up to 10% of its overall value, contingent on various performance indicators, including stock performance and development milestones. In exchange, OpenAI will utilize and assist in enhancing AMD's upcoming AI GPUs, effectively making OpenAI a shareholder in AMD. Conversely, OpenAI's relationship with Nvidia operates on a different model. Nvidia has directly invested in OpenAI, establishing it as one of its portfolio partners. Huang confirmed that this collaboration now includes direct sales of AI systems and networking equipment, marking a significant shift from previous arrangements where OpenAI accessed Nvidia GPUs through cloud providers like Microsoft Azure, Oracle OCI, and CoreWeave. "This is the first time we’re going to sell directly to them," Huang noted. Despite this progress, Huang acknowledged that OpenAI still faces financial challenges in expanding its infrastructure. He estimated that each gigawatt of AI data center capacity could cost between $50 and $60 billion, covering all necessary aspects from land acquisition to server deployment. For 2025 alone, OpenAI has secured plans for 10 gigawatts of U.S. data center capacity through its $500 billion Stargate partnership with Oracle and SoftBank, alongside a $300 billion cloud agreement. In total, OpenAI has formed substantial partnerships with Nvidia and AMD for at least 16 gigawatts of AI computing power, along with other initiatives under the 'Stargate UK' and various European collaborations. Analysts predict that these combined commitments could surpass $1 trillion in infrastructure investments this year. Although some have criticized these agreements as being “circular,” where companies fund OpenAI's purchases in exchange for equity, Altman remains steadfast in his approach. In a recent episode of the Andreessen Horowitz a16z Podcast, Altman asserted that OpenAI's expansion efforts are just beginning. He stated, "You should expect much more from us in the coming months," explaining that the drive to invest heavily in infrastructure is fueled by the expected demand for future AI models. Altman expressed confidence in both the company’s research trajectory and the long-term economic potential of its forthcoming technologies. According to reports, OpenAI generated $4.5 billion in revenue during the first half of 2025, which remains a small fraction of the investment scale it is pursuing. Nonetheless, Altman believes that the eventual returns will validate their strategy. "I’ve never been more confident in the research roadmap in front of us and also the economic value that will come from using those [future] models," he stated. He also acknowledged the need for industry-wide collaboration to realize these ambitious goals. "To make the bet at this scale, we kind of need the whole industry, or a big chunk of the industry, to support it… from electrons to model distribution and everything in between. So we’re going to partner with a lot of people."