Nvidia will trade compute access for equity stakes in AI startups because apparently selling chips at a 70 percent margin wasn't extractive enough.
The program targets companies that need GPUs but lack cash. Which is every AI startup. They all spent their Series A on ping pong tables and kombucha kegs. Now they get to mortgage their future earnings to the only company that makes the hardware they need to exist. This is like renting an apartment from your boss who also owns the grocery store.
Nvidia already controls the picks and shovels. Now they want a cut of whatever gold you might find. Except the gold is a chatbot that writes marketing emails and the mine is a data center in Virginia that costs forty grand a month to run.
Some founder in San Francisco is explaining this deal to his board right now. He's calling it strategic. He's saying Nvidia brings more than just compute. They bring partnerships. Ecosystem access. He's not saying they bring a 15 percent revenue share that vests immediately and dilutes everyone at the table.
The program is aimed at AI-focused firms. As opposed to all those startups currently building AI models on TI-84 calculators. Every company with a pitch deck and a GitHub repo will apply. Most will get rejected. The ones that get accepted will spend three years building a product that generates twelve dollars in revenue while Nvidia takes two of them.
Retail traders will hear about this and assume it's bullish. They'll buy calls. They won't ask why a company worth three trillion dollars needs to nickel-and-dime pre-revenue startups for equity points.
Because the house always wins, especially when the house owns the casino, the cards, and a piece of your paycheck.
Photo by Mariia Shalabaieva on Unsplash
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