OpenAI's Dominance in Tech and Markets: A New Era of Influence

OpenAI has entered a new phase of influence on the tech sector and wider economy. The company's announcements and partnerships have triggered explosive rallies in shares of companies like AMD and Spotify. OpenAI's flagship chatbot is used by over 800 million people each week, and its new social video app Sora hit one million downloads in under five days. The company is increasing spending on data centers and chips to support expanded adoption of its services and build more sophisticated tools.

OpenAI, the tech giant behind ChatGPT and GPT-4, has entered a new phase of influence on the tech sector and wider economy. The company's recent announcements and partnerships have triggered explosive rallies in shares of companies like AMD and Spotify. OpenAI's flagship chatbot is used by over 800 million people each week, and its new social video app Sora hit one million downloads in under five days. The company is increasing spending on data centers and chips to support expanded adoption of its services and build more sophisticated tools.

In late 2025, OpenAI struck landmark partnerships to secure 16 gigawatts of cutting-edge AI computing from Nvidia and AMD, fueling what analysts call a $1 trillion AI infrastructure boom [1]. These deals are highly unusual and "circular," involving companies investing in each other while funding massive GPU orders [2].

Nvidia's $100 B Investment: Nvidia agreed in September to invest up to $100 billion in OpenAI and supply 10 GW of its next-gen "Vera Rubin" AI supercomputers [3]. This first-ever direct deal (previously OpenAI bought Nvidia chips via cloud providers) makes Nvidia a shareholder in OpenAI [4]. Nvidia's CEO Jensen Huang said the partnership will help OpenAI build its own "self-hosted" AI data centers – essentially preparing OpenAI to become a hyperscale cloud in its own right [5].

AMD's 6 GW Deal & 10% Stake Twist: On Oct 6, AMD unveiled a multi-year pact to provide 6 GW of AI GPU clusters to OpenAI (starting with new MI450 chips in 2026) [6]. In return, OpenAI received warrants to buy up to 160 million AMD shares (~10% of the company) at $0.01 each – vesting only if it installs all the chips and AMD's stock hits aggressive targets (up to $600/share) [7]. This equity sweetener means if AMD's AI business soars, OpenAI reaps huge upside – a "clever" incentive aligning both parties' fortunes [8].

Market Reactions: Investors reacted swiftly. AMD's stock skyrocketed ~30% in a single day on the OpenAI deal – its biggest jump in 9 years – adding about $80 billion in value [9]. Shares hit the low $200s (a new high, nearly double their start-of-year level) [10]. By contrast, Nvidia's stock (valued around $1 trillion+) dipped ~1–2% on fears of a new challenger [11], though it remains near all-time highs after a huge 2025 run-up. Oracle's stock has also been a big winner – up nearly 90% this year – after inking major OpenAI cloud contracts under the "Stargate" project [12].

"Stargate" Super-Cloud: Beyond Nvidia and AMD, OpenAI partnered with Oracle and SoftBank on a colossal "Stargate" initiative to build AI supercomputing centers. Oracle's cloud unit signed a $300 billion deal to host OpenAI's compute, and with SoftBank is adding five new U.S. data centers to reach a $500 billion, 10 GW infrastructure goal [13]. Similar expansions are planned in the U.K. and Europe ("Stargate UK"), all aimed at ensuring OpenAI has unrivaled computing power on demand. Sam Altman, OpenAI’s CEO, remarked "AI can only fulfill its promise if we build the compute to power it" [14] – underscoring the driving belief behind these investments.

Massive Stakes & Risks: On paper, OpenAI’s 2025 deals now total roughly $1 trillion in future commitments [15] – an eye-popping bet on AI’s growth. Altman signaled "you should expect much more from us in the coming months" [16], hinting at further partnerships ahead. However, OpenAI’s current revenue (~$4.5 billion in H1 2025) is nowhere near the scale of its spending ambitions [17]. Critics warn the funding is a complex "shell game," with tech giants underwriting their own sales to OpenAI in exchange for equity [18]. If AI demand or OpenAI’s execution falter, these intertwined deals could expose all players to significant risk. Regulators are also watching for any anti-competitive implications as Nvidia, for example, takes an ownership stake in a top customer while supplying others [19].

OpenAI's Insatiable Need for AI Compute: OpenAI – maker of ChatGPT and GPT-4 – has made it clear that access to massive computing power is the biggest constraint on advancing AI [20]. Training and running ever-larger AI models requires tens of thousands of cutting-edge GPUs and enormous electricity and cooling resources. Sam Altman has likened today’s AI race to an "arms race" for silicon and server space, saying OpenAI must "build enough AI infrastructure to meet its needs" [21]. In Altman’s view, current cloud data centers are not sufficient for the next generation of AI – "we have decided that it is time to go make a very aggressive infrastructure bet," he explained [22]. This backdrop sets the stage for OpenAI’s recent mega-deals with chipmakers and cloud partners. They are essentially buying (or co-building) an AI supercloud to fuel future models – before someone else (or the market’s limitations) slows them down.