Here's a refreshing take from the top of the tech world: Nvidia Corporation (NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang says his company doesn't try to pick winners. Instead, it tries to back pretty much everyone.
Speaking on the "Dwarkesh" podcast, Huang laid out Nvidia's investment philosophy. "There are so many great, amazing foundation model companies, and we try to invest in all of them," he said. "We don't pick winners. We need to support everyone."
It's a strategy born from two things, according to Huang. First, he doesn't think it's Nvidia's job to anoint the next big thing. Second, and more interestingly, he points to the company's own origin story as a guiding lesson.
Huang reminisced about Nvidia's early days as one of about 60 companies trying to make it in 3D graphics. "Nvidia would be at the top of that list not to make it," he admitted. The company's graphics architecture didn't look promising back then. "Everybody would have counted us out," he said. "And here we are. So I have enough humility to recognize that. Don't pick winners."
Nvidia Bets Big Across AI Ecosystem
So what does "support everyone" look like in practice? A pretty wide portfolio. Nvidia has taken stakes in major players like CoreWeave Inc. (CRWV), Intel Corp (INTC), Synopsys Inc. (SNPS), and Nokia. It's also invested in headline-making startups like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Mistral AI.
In March, Huang provided some color on the size of those bets. He indicated that Nvidia's $30 billion investment in OpenAI might be its last before the startup goes public, and he ruled out a rumored $100 billion deal. He also suggested the company's $10 billion investment in Anthropic is likely final.
The strategy extends to smaller, targeted bets as well. Nvidia has put money into driverless car startup Wayve, data curation company Scale AI, and humanoid robotics startup Figure AI.
This broad-based approach doesn't mean Nvidia is on an acquisition spree for just anything, though. Earlier this month, the company had to categorically deny rumors that it was looking to buy a PC maker. That speculation had briefly sent stocks of potential targets like Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) and Dell (DELL) higher. Nvidia made it clear that's not the game it's playing.
So the takeaway is simple, if counterintuitive for a company now sitting at the center of the AI universe: Nvidia remembers what it was like to be the underdog nobody believed in. And it's betting that the next Nvidia could come from anywhere.
