Nvidia becomes one of world's biggest strategic tech backers as equity investments soar to $99 billion

Nvidia has become one of the world's largest strategic tech backers as the value of its equity investments soared more than tenfold in the past year to $99 billion, with the chip giant increasingly looking to leverage its huge capital reserves to bolster the AI sector.

The company has ramped up dealmaking for financing rounds across the AI stack in the previous 12 months, with over $40 billion committed in 2026. Equity investments were valued at $99 billion as of July 26, up from about $7 billion a year earlier and about $2.2 billion two years earlier.

The rise in value puts Nvidia among the strategic investors with the largest tech holdings around the world. The company still trails some more established tech firms, with Alphabet and Amazon both posting equity investments worth over $100 billion in recent earnings.

Capital has increasingly become a key play for Nvidia. In August, the company announced partnerships with major investment firms aimed at mobilizing more than $500 billion worth of financing for Nvidia's graphics processing units (GPUs) and said it would provide up to $105 billion of conditional credit support for an OpenAI data center in Ohio.

Nvidia also announced Thursday it is planning to acquire AI startup Hugging Face for $12.9 billion .

Frontier AI labs, neoclouds and companies building software and novel tech for AI — both in private and public markets — have been recipients of cash, with the value of Nvidia's equity holdings also buoyed by skyrocketing tech stocks.

Nvidia made the investments to enhance its growth opportunities, cultivate its ecosystem and strengthen its competitive position, the company said in its earnings.

"Nvidia has a clear interest in ensuring that its customers and partners prosper to provide future business for Nvidia," Ian Fogg, research director at CCS Insight, told CNBC.

Securing positioning Nvidia dominates the market for the most advanced chips used for AI, known as graphics processing units (GPUs). Business has boomed as a result.

The chip giant has seen its stock increase by 33% over the past 12 months, and its revenue soared 106% to $96.2 billion in its fiscal second quarter.

"Nvidia is keen to diversify its AI business," said Fogg.

The company is taking steps including financing and equity investments to "increase the range of customers and create an AI ecosystem," he added.

Frontier AI labs have been major recipients of Nvidia splashing the cash. The chip giant's Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress told analysts on an earnings call that the company had invested "nearly $50 billion in the frontier AI labs."

Most recently, in February, Nvidia said it would invest $30 billion into OpenAI as part of the company's $110 billion funding round.