CEO Jensen Huang went on an AI deal spree in August. Nvidia plans to invest $18 billion more this fiscal year.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has been on a spending binge in AI during August, with the company committing $18 billion to equity investments for the rest of fiscal year 2027. Huang has been investing across the entire AI ecosystem, from model makers to infrastructure financiers. The expansion is part of Nvidia's strategy to grow beyond just chip manufacturing and raises questions about the extent of its involvement in the AI sector.

The company currently holds $47.9 billion in private companies, more than double the amount it held at the end of the previous fiscal year. Many of these deals are not outright acquisitions but involve licensing technology, hiring talent, or taking minority stakes to avoid regulatory scrutiny and integration challenges. Nvidia's expansion comes as major customers like Amazon, Google, and Microsoft are moving into AI chip production.

In August, Nvidia invested $1.5 billion in SB Energy and took a stake in Cloverleaf Infrastructure, addressing data center power and land constraints. The company has also teamed up with Wall Street firms to raise over $500 billion in outside funding for AI infrastructure and is reportedly considering investments or deals with AI search startup Perplexity and Korean inference chip startup Rebellions.

Nvidia disclosed a $2.94 billion cash payment related to its deal with AI hardware startup Groq in December. While Nvidia's aggressive dealmaking has risks, the company's CEO sees it differently, believing the investments will be excellent, with limited risk, as the demand creates business for Nvidia's platform and generates equity returns.