Nvidia’s AI Empire: A Look At Its Top Startup Investments
No company has ridden the AI wave quite like Nvidia. Since the debut of ChatGPT and the explosion of generative AI tools, Nvidia’s AI empire has rapidly expanded—fueling record profits, soaring stock prices, and a market cap surpassing $4.5 trillion.
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But beyond its dominance in GPU sales, Nvidia is quietly building an even bigger empire—by investing heavily in startups that are shaping the next generation of artificial intelligence.
Nvidia’s Growing AI Investment Strategy
In 2025 alone, Nvidia has participated in 50 venture capital deals, already topping the 48 completed in 2024, according to PitchBook. These figures don’t even include investments made by its corporate VC arm, NVentures, which dramatically ramped up activity—jumping from just one deal in 2022 to 21 this year.
The company says its investment mission is simple: expand the AI ecosystem by backing “game changers and market makers.” In other words, Nvidia isn’t just selling the picks and shovels of the AI gold rush—it’s buying into the mines themselves.
How Nvidia Picks Its AI Startup Partners
Nvidia’s startup investments span across sectors—ranging from generative AI and robotics to data infrastructure and biotech. What ties them together is one thing: a shared dependence on AI computing power, often powered by Nvidia’s own GPUs.
This synergy gives Nvidia a strategic advantage. By investing early in promising AI startups, it ensures future demand for its hardware, software, and cloud platforms. It’s a long-term play that strengthens its position across the entire AI value chain.
The Billion-Dollar-Round Club
Here are a few of Nvidia’s top startup investments since 2023—each raising over $100 million and signaling where the AI future is headed:
OpenAI
In October 2024, Nvidia joined OpenAI’s massive $6.6 billion round, contributing around $100 million. The deal valued OpenAI at a staggering $157 billion, cementing its place as a global AI leader.
Anthropic
Nvidia also invested in Anthropic, the company behind Claude, during its $750 million round in early 2025. The move strengthened Nvidia’s influence in the fast-growing market of ethical and safe AI development.
Mistral AI
The French startup Mistral AI secured over $600 million in funding, with Nvidia among its top backers. Known for its open-weight language models, Mistral aligns with Nvidia’s goal of empowering flexible, developer-friendly AI systems.
Figure AI
In robotics, Nvidia’s investment in Figure AI—a humanoid robotics company—showcases its belief in physical AI. The startup raised more than $500 million, and its robots are trained using Nvidia’s powerful simulation tools.
CoreWeave
Perhaps the most strategic of all, Nvidia has repeatedly invested in CoreWeave, a cloud provider optimized for GPU workloads. This partnership not only boosts Nvidia’s sales but also ensures developers have scalable access to its chips.
Why Nvidia’s AI Empire Keeps Expanding
Nvidia’s investment strategy goes beyond financial returns. Each bet strengthens its AI ecosystem, creating an interconnected web of companies that rely on its chips, software, and infrastructure.
From data centers to humanoid robots, Nvidia’s reach extends into nearly every corner of the AI industry. And with startups increasingly dependent on its hardware, Nvidia’s influence is likely to grow even deeper in 2026 and beyond.
Nvidia’s Next Frontier
As competition heats up—from chip rivals like AMD and Intel to AI infrastructure players like Amazon and Google—Nvidia’s approach offers a clear edge. By investing directly in the AI startups that will define the next decade, Nvidia’s AI empire isn’t just participating in the revolution—it’s leading it.
The company’s growing portfolio reads like a map of the future: smarter robots, more powerful models, and AI systems that touch every part of our lives.
From OpenAI to CoreWeave, Nvidia’s top startup investments reveal a strategy that’s both visionary and self-reinforcing. It’s not just about capital—it’s about control, innovation, and shaping how AI evolves.
In many ways, the story of Nvidia’s AI empire is the story of artificial intelligence itself: rapid growth, bold bets, and the relentless pursuit of what comes next.
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