On August 10, NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang unveiled what he calls his “big concept” for AI financing on CNBC, standing alongside leaders from Goldman Sachs, BlackRock, Blackstone, KKR, Apollo, and Brookfield. Together, the group says it will raise $500 billion, and potentially more, from outside investors to build new AI data centers.
KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE:KKR)’s head of digital infrastructure, Waldemar Szlezak, described the shift plainly: “You can think about it as a revenue stream.”
Why This Matters
NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) already tried a similar move once before. Almost 11 months ago, it announced a plan to invest up to $100 billion in OpenAI for data centers needing 10 gigawatts of power, but that investment never fully materialized.
That history raises a real question: does this new $500 billion plan mark a genuine shift in how AI gets financed, or another ambitious announcement that outruns the actual contracts behind it?
The Bull and Bear Case: Nvidia
Nvidia’s chips seem to hold real value over time, since customers keep using older-generation GPUs long after a newer model ships. NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) also gets the option to backstop 25% of any loan made under the plan, which should help borrowers land better rates than relying on their own credit alone. Big Tech has already shown this kind of financing works at scale: Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, and Oracle together raised more than $150 billion in debt and equity this year, and Intel raised its own stock offering from $15 billion to $20 billion.
Still, no money has actually been raised yet, only memos of understanding between the firms. Short seller Michael Burry has publicly argued that companies including Meta, Oracle, Microsoft, Google, and Amazon are overstating how long their AI chips stay useful and understating how fast they lose value, a claim that strikes directly at the core assumption behind NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA)’s plan.
China adds another layer of risk: Ben Emons of FedWatch Advisors told CNBC that China’s ramp-up in domestic chip production could flood the market with cheap silicon. It can erode the value of the collateral backing hundreds of billions in loans faster than the debt itself comes due.
The Bull and Bear Case: KKR
KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE:KKR)’s head of digital infrastructure, Waldemar Szlezak, described the shift plainly: “You can think about it as a revenue stream.” KKR already has experience turning infrastructure bets into public capital. Earlier this year, German satellite maker OHB, in which KKR owns a 28.6% stake, tapped public markets for a €500 million rights issue. It is a separate deal that still shows KKR’s broader appetite for space and infrastructure investing beyond just AI.
