New York, Feb 20, 2026, 06:47 EST — Premarket
- Nvidia shares slipped in premarket action after Reuters reported an OpenAI investment.
- The deal chatter surfaces just days ahead of Nvidia’s quarterly numbers, where all eyes are on the company’s guidance.
- Early trading saw chip stocks moving in both directions.
Nvidia slipped 0.1% to $187.90 ahead of the bell Friday, following a Reuters report that said the chipmaker is nearing a $30 billion investment deal with OpenAI.
This is a massive stake, even for Silicon Valley. It arrives as investors—already uneasy—wonder how much longer the AI spending spree can keep up this pace. Nvidia’s top customers and partners find themselves back in the spotlight as a result.
Timing is key for Nvidia shareholders. The chipmaker reports quarterly earnings next week, and investors usually take its guidance as a proxy for data center appetite—and as a gauge of how fast AI chip orders are stacking up.
OpenAI is looking to raise upwards of $100 billion in this round, a move that would push the ChatGPT creator’s valuation to roughly $830 billion, Reuters said, citing a source familiar with the discussions. Reuters also reported SoftBank and Amazon are expected to join the round.
Much of the new funding will likely be spent snapping up Nvidia chips—crucial hardware for building and running OpenAI’s AI models, according to the person. Nvidia, for its part, declined to comment, Reuters noted.
According to Reuters, Nvidia’s planned investment would take the place of a previous pledge from September—up to $100 billion to back OpenAI’s use of its chips in data centers. The person said the deal has dragged on longer than either side anticipated.
The iShares Semiconductor ETF slipped 0.6% ahead of the bell. Advanced Micro Devices picked up 1.6%, while Broadcom edged just 0.1% higher.
Nvidia’s outlook and CEO Jensen Huang’s read on customer capital spending—essentially, how much corporate giants shell out for data centers and servers—are next up for investors. Some of the “hyperscalers,” major cloud operators known for their sprawling data centers, have already hinted at ramped-up budgets. But expectations for Nvidia are sky-high as it is, according to Marta Norton at Empower, who spoke with Reuters for its Week Ahead column. “And so it’s hard for Nvidia to surprise when everyone expects it to surprise,” Norton pointed out. Reuters
The OpenAI round isn’t wrapped up yet, and that’s the catch. Should fundraising get delayed, valuations pull back, or customer orders cool after this surge in build-outs, Nvidia could just as quickly follow AI spending down as it did on the way up — the stock still trades like a direct readout of big AI budgets, for better or worse.
Nvidia is set to release its fourth-quarter numbers on Feb. 25, 5 p.m. ET. The Street will be watching for guidance—especially any updates tied to OpenAI and the bigger picture for AI infrastructure demand, which could set the tone for the stock’s next move.
