Nvidia in Talks to Invest Billions in Perplexity
en.sedaily.com Aug 25, 2026

Nvidia in Talks to Invest Billions in Perplexity

AI-summarised brief · reviewed before publication

Nvidia is negotiating to join a new equity investment round in AI startup Perplexity, valuing the company at over $30 billion. This move marks a strategic shift for the chipmaker from primarily selling hardware to actively investing in AI software. Nvidia and Perplexity already maintain close ties, with Perplexity joining Nvidia’s Nemotron open-source alliance in March. CEO Jensen Huang has previously praised Perplexity as his favorite chatbot. Reports indicate Nvidia initially considered licensing technology and hiring staff, similar to recent deals with Groq and Enfabrica, but discussions shifted to equity. The investment aims to stabilize Perplexity ahead of a planned 2028 initial public offering. Concurrently, Nvidia finalized a $6 billion partnership with AI startup Poolside, including a $1 billion equity stake. These actions underscore Nvidia’s broader strategy to expand its influence in the open-weight AI model market, moving beyond its traditional role as a hardware supplier to become a key player in software development and ecosystem building.

💡 Why It Matters

  • · Nvidia’s pivot from pure hardware sales to direct software equity stakes fundamentally alters its competitive positioning in the AI ecosystem.
  • · By financially backing open-source competitors like Perplexity and Poolside, the chipmaker secures critical software partnerships that drive demand for its GPUs while challenging the dominance of closed-model giants.