IT Home October 8 news: On the 7th local time, according to The Information citing a person familiar with the matter, NVIDIA has discussed investing in humanoid robot manufacturer Figure another $1 billion(IT Home note: approximately RMB 6.712 billion at current exchange rates); this investment plan had not been previously reported. Figure is seeking more funding at a pre-money valuation of approximately $38 billion (approximately RMB 255.073 billion at current exchange rates).
It is reported that NVIDIA is already an investor in Figure; a year ago, Figure raised more than $1 billion (approximately RMB 6.712 billion at current exchange rates) at the same valuation.
According to the source, NVIDIA may also invest in two types of startups: companies that help itdevelop its Nemotron open-source models, as well ascompanies developing other AI applications. NVIDIA agreed to spend $6 billion (approximately RMB 40.275 billion at current exchange rates) to obtain Poolside's software license and hire its employees, partly in the hope of advancing Nemotron's development. Poolside employees launched the open-weight Laguna AI model this year.
NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang, who leads the investment strategy, has long felt uneasy about the company's position in the global market. He previously admitted frankly that he isworried that AI demand may cool, or that products capable of replacing NVIDIA chips may emerge, causing the company to lose its dominant position, and is deeply anxious about this.
NVIDIA holds $99 billion (approximately RMB 664.533 billion at current exchange rates) in cash and securities, and its cash flow is also very ample. Huang hopes to use the company's financial resources to enable thousands of AI models to thrive, avoiding a future where only a few models flourish. In this way, NVIDIA's financial performance could become less dependent on OpenAI and a few other major customers. NVIDIA disclosed that in the six months ending in July, three customers accounted for 44% of total sales.
An investor who is familiar with NVIDIA's deals and invests in AI infrastructure and applications said: "If I were involved in Jensen Huang's strategic decisions, I would do everything possible to push thousands of models to serve thousands of different application scenarios."
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