Nvidia Corp.‘s (NASDAQ:NVDA) reported talks to invest in AI startup Perplexity at a valuation exceeding $30 billion are notable on their own. But the proposed deal also fits an increasingly familiar pattern: Nvidia is repeatedly investing in companies that are building their AI businesses on the same infrastructure the chipmaker sells.
According to The Information, Nvidia is discussing participating in Perplexity’s next funding round, which would value the AI search and AI agent startup at more than $30 billion.
The report follows Perplexity’s announcement last month that it plans to deploy Nvidia’s new Vera CPUs for AI agent workloads after finding the chips significantly outperformed traditional server processors for some of its core tasks.
Perplexity Isn’t An Isolated Example
The reported investment follows a series of Nvidia-backed companies that also rely heavily on Nvidia’s hardware.
| Company | 🟩 Invested | ⚡ Uses Nvidia Infrastructure |
|---|---|---|
| Perplexity | ✓ | ✓ |
| CoreWeave | ✓ | ✓ |
| Nebius | ✓ | ✓ |
| Fireworks | ✓ | ✓ |
| SSI | ✓ | ✓ |
| Sarvam | ✓ | ✓ |
| Firmus | ✓ | ✓ |
Earlier this year, Nvidia expanded its relationship with AI cloud provider CoreWeave, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWV) by investing another $2 billion in the company while simultaneously deepening their infrastructure partnership. CoreWeave is deploying multiple generations of Nvidia technology—including Rubin GPUs, Vera CPUs and BlueField networking—as it builds AI factories for enterprise customers.
Nvidia’s latest Form 13F also shows CoreWeave remains one of the chipmaker’s largest publicly disclosed equity holdings, alongside stakes in companies including Nebius Group N.V. (NASDAQ:NBIS), Intel Corp (NASDAQ:INTC), Nokia Corp (NYSE:NOK) and Synopsys, Inc. (NASDAQ:SNPS).
Nebius, meanwhile, has emerged as another AI infrastructure company expanding cloud capacity around Nvidia GPUs, giving the chipmaker exposure not only through chip sales but also through its equity position.
The Strategy Extends Beyond Public Holdings
The pattern also appears in Nvidia’s private investments.
The company has continued backing AI startups including Fireworks, Sarvam, Safe Superintelligence Inc and Firmus, adding to a growing portfolio that spans foundation models, AI infrastructure and enterprise AI applications.
Many of these businesses either deploy Nvidia hardware directly or build products designed to run on Nvidia-powered AI infrastructure.
More Than A Chip Supplier
None of this proves Nvidia invests because a company buys its chips.
But the overlap has become increasingly difficult to ignore.
As companies like Perplexity, CoreWeave and Nebius expand AI infrastructure, inference workloads and enterprise AI deployments, they also create additional demand for the accelerated computing platforms Nvidia sells.
That creates a reinforcing cycle: Nvidia benefits from supplying the hardware that powers AI companies, while selective equity investments give it exposure to the growth of those same businesses.
Perplexity’s reported funding round may be the latest example of that approach. Rather than simply selling processors, Nvidia increasingly appears to be placing strategic bets across the AI value chain—from the infrastructure providers building AI factories to the startups creating the next generation of AI applications.
Photo: Samuel Boivin / Shutterstock – ek
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