Nvidia suspends part of its revenue-sharing financing arrangements with AI cloud companies

According to the Wall Street Journal, Nvidia has suspended some transactions in its new financing plan. This plan aims to provide credit support to AI cloud companies in exchange for revenue sharing. Insiders say that the chip giant withdrew from the related arrangements last week but may adjust the plan in the future or incorporate it into other projects.

A Nvidia spokesperson stated that the new business model aimed at the rapidly growing AI ecosystem and open computing power access is still progressing and continues to evolve due to strong demand. The plan was announced less than two months ago, intending to support the financing needs of small AI cloud companies: if customers cannot sell computing power, Nvidia can lease back the relevant computing power, acting as a guarantee buyer, thereby facilitating companies in raising funds to purchase Nvidia AI chips; Nvidia would then share cloud revenue generated by customers based on its chips, in addition to hardware sales.

Nvidia stated in this week's earnings call that this model is expected to contribute billions of dollars in revenue in the medium to long term. However, recent investor scrutiny regarding its capital flow back to the AI ecosystem has increased, raising concerns that so-called circular transactions may inflate demand. Reports indicate that some employees had expressed antitrust concerns to customers; in the early stages of the plan, Nvidia also faced dissatisfaction from some potential partners due to attempts to limit chip rental targets, preferring to distribute to multiple small customers rather than a single large customer, and requiring a 50% revenue share after reaching a certain threshold.