Nvidia’s massive investment in OpenAI, announced earlier this week, will put billions of dollars into the coffers of the artificial intelligence startup to use as it sees fit. But most of the money will go towards use of Nvidia’s cutting-edge chips.

The agreement between the two companies was big on numbers but thin on specifics. They said the investment would reach up to $100 billion, paid out as AI supercomputing facilities open in the coming years, with the first one coming online in the second half of 2026.

The timing of the buildouts and the cost of each data center remains up in the air. However, what’s become clear is that OpenAI plans to pay for Nvidia’s graphics processing units (GPUs) through lease arrangements, rather than upfront purchases, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not be named because the details are private.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, who described this week’s deal as “monumental in size,” has estimated that an AI data center with a gigawatt of capacity costs roughly $50 billion, with $35 billion of that used to pay for Nvidia’s GPUs. By leasing the processors, OpenAI can spread its costs out over the useful life of the GPUs, which could be up to five years a person said, leaving Nvidia to bear more of the risk.

The Information previously reported on some aspects of the lease arrangement.

Nvidia agreed to invest over time as OpenAI’s data centers get up and running. The initial $10 billion will be available to OpenAI soon, and help the company work towards deploying its first gigawatt of capacity, a source told CNBC.

While Nvidia’s equity investment could help OpenAI with hiring, marketing and operations, the biggest single item it will be used for is compute, the people said. And that’s almost entirely directed at Nvidia’s GPUs, which are key to building and training large language models and for running AI workloads.

As a non-investment-grade startup that lacks positive cash flow, financing remains costly. OpenAI executives have called equity the most expensive way to fund data centers, and said that the company is preparing to take on debt to cover the remainder of the expansion. 

In addition to offering a cost-efficient way for OpenAI to access chips, Nvidia’s lease option and long-term commitment can help the company land better terms from banks when it comes to raising debt, a person said.

An Nvidia spokesperson declined to comment.

Speaking to CNBC in Abilene, Texas, home to the first new data center, OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar pointed to the role Oracle and Nvidia are playing in the financing. Oracle, one of OpenAI’s partners on the Stargate project, is leasing the Abilene facility, and OpenAI will eventually pay for the operations.

“Folks like Oracle are putting their balance sheets to work to create these incredible data centers you see behind us,” Friar said. “In Nvidia’s case, they’re putting together some equity to get it jumpstarted, but importantly, they will get paid for all those chips as those chips get deployed.”

She said all the big partners are needed to help relieve a dramatic shortage of capacity.

“What I think we should all be focused on today is the fact that there’s not enough compute,” Friar said. “As the business grows, we will be more than capable of paying for what is in our future — more compute, more revenue.”

Still, the OpenAI-Nvidia deal has raised some concerns about the sustainability of the AI boom.

Nvidia’s march to a $4.3 trillion market cap has been driven by GPU sales to OpenAI as well as to tech megacaps like Google, Meta, Microsoft and Amazon. OpenAI’s path to a $500 billion private market valuation has been enabled by hefty investments from Microsoft and others that allow the company to burn billions of dollars in cash while building its AI models that power services including ChatGPT.

Jamie Zakalik, an analyst at Neuberger Berman, said the Nvidia deal is the latest example of OpenAI raising money that it pours right back into the company providing the capital.

Investors are concerned about the “circular nature of this deal goosing up everyone’s earnings and everyone’s numbers,” said Zakalik. “But it’s not actually creating anything.”

Asked about those fears, Altman told CNBC the company is focused on driving real demand.

“We need to keep selling services to consumers and businesses — and building these great new products that people pay us a lot of money for,” he said. “As long as that keeps happening, that pays for a lot of these data centers, a lot of chips.”

— CNBC’s Kif Leswing contributed to this report

WATCH: Oracle, OpenAI and SoftBank unveil Stargate data center expansion

MUNICH — Xiaomi on Wednesday made the international debut of a slew of new devices and appliances with its smartphones at the center, as the Chinese tech giant sets out to directly challenge Samsung.

The Beijing-headquartered company took the wraps off of the Xiaomi 15T series comprising of two smartphones — the Xiaomi 15T and Xiaomi 15T Pro — during a launch event in Munich.

The devices, priced at 649 euros ($766) and 799 euros, respectively, continue Xiaomi’s strategy of bringing phones with the latest specs to the market at a competitive price.

Xiaomi talked up the triple-camera system, large 6.83-inch display and big battery power, as it looks to position the devices as a potential contender to Samsung’s mid-range A series and top-end S Series of smartphones.

For comparison, Samsung’s S25 starts at 799 euros, while its top-end device, the S25 Ultra, starts at 1,249 euros in Germany.

“The 15T is basically an affordable flagship with high-end features but priced half a notch down from the top tier premium devices,” Bryan Ma, vice president of devices research at International Data Corporation, told CNBC by email.

Over the past few years, Xiaomi has expanded its geographical footprint and offerings to include everything from washing machines to electric cars.

In Europe, Xiaomi has cemented itself as the third largest smartphone player by market share, behind Samsung and Apple, through a mix of high-end and mid-tier devices that have offered a stiff challenge to the two giants.

Xiaomi launched its more expensive Xiaomi 15 phones internationally earlier this year. In China, it is gearing up for the unveiling of its 17 series of devices, which will be its flagship.

“Xiaomi 15T is another important step for Xiaomi in its premiumization strategy, particularly trying to capture the slightly more budget-sensitive, spec-focused buyers that still opt for a high-end device, Runar Bjorhovde, analyst at Canalys said.

“One of Xiaomi’s major strategic focuses in taking on the high-end.”

But the company has bigger ambitions. On Wednesday, Xiaomi announced the global launch of it Mijia brand of home appliances, which include a refrigerator, washing machine and air conditioner.

It’s a move right out of Samsung’s playbook. The South Korean technology giant sells products across the world spanning from appliances to smartphones and TVs.

“Xiaomi naturally puts the pressure on any competitor in the sectors that it enters given its operating model of aggressively priced yet good quality products,” Ma said.

It’s been a chaotic few days for the tech sector, and industry executives and experts are still assessing how U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest immigration crackdown could shape the future of their workforces. 

The Trump administration sparked widespread panic Friday after announcing employers will pay a new $100,000 fee for H-1B visas, which are temporary work visas granted to highly skilled foreign professionals. These visas have underpinned the U.S. tech workforce for decades.

Some tech executives, including Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, have lauded the changes to the H-1B program, but experts told CNBC that the Trump administration’s changes could prevent some tech companies — namely startups — from securing top foreign talent. These experts said the changes also run the risk of driving top talent toward other countries.

“The short of it is, it would be a disaster for America, for American companies, American competitiveness, American innovation,” said Exequiel Hernandez, an associate professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

In fiscal 2025, Amazon, Microsoft, Meta, Apple and Google are among the top 10 companies that employ the most H-1B holders. Prominent tech executives like Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Tesla CEO Elon Musk were H-1B recipients earlier in their careers.

As tech companies scrambled to respond before Trump’s proclamation went into effect at 12:01 a.m. ET on Sunday, the White House quelled some concerns on Saturday by clarifying that the fee is not annual and would only apply to new visas, not renewals for current visa holders.

More changes could be on the horizon. 

The Trump administration teased a proposed rule on Tuesday that said H-1B recipients should be selected through a weighted process instead of a random one. The weighted process would take place when the number of requests for visas exceeds the limit of available spots, and it would be based on wage levels, the proposal said.

The proposed rule will officially publish in the Federal Register on Wednesday, and it’s still subject to change after the administration reviews initial public feedback.

Hastings called the Trump administration’s $100,000 fee a “great solution,” in a post on X on Sunday.

“It will mean H1-B is used just for very high value jobs, which will mean no lottery needed, and more certainty for those jobs,” he wrote.

OpenAI’s Altman expressed support for the updates during an interview with CNBC’s Jon Fortt on Monday.

“We need to get the smartest people in the country, and streamlining that process and also sort of outlining financial incentives seems good to me,” Altman said.

Garry Tan, the CEO of the popular startup accelerator Y Combinator, criticized the Trump administration’s new fee, writing in a LinkedIn post that “it kneecaps startups” and is a “massive gift” to overseas tech hubs.

“In the middle of an AI arms race, we’re telling builders to build elsewhere,” Tan wrote. “We need American Little Tech to win—not $100K toll booths.”

China and other competitors loom large

U.S. tech companies big and small are fiercely competing with one another – and the rest of the world – as they race to develop the most advanced AI models and applications. Organizations like Meta have shelled out billions of dollars to recruit top AI talent in an effort to try and gain an edge.  

The Trump administration’s changes to the H-1B program could complicate similar recruiting efforts. 

“What this does is that it gives our competitors, other countries, places like Asia, Canada, Europe, they can then attract these employees to create new innovations,” said Steven Hubbard, a data scientist at the American Immigration Council, which is a nonprofit for immigration advocacy and research. 

One big competitor in the war for talent is China. The world’s second-largest economy has long fought against the U.S. for tech dominance, and more recently the AI race.

Earlier this year, Chinese AI firm DeepSeek rattled global markets after claiming to create a large language chatbot that outperformed competitors at a fraction of the cost. The news raised questions over the significant sums that American tech companies are shelling out on AI.

Some experts worry that visa changes could deal a victory into China’s hands, sending top talent overseas. The move may also deter foreign students from attending university in the U.S. as uncertainty hangs over their post-graduation job prospects.

“Those students are going to look at this environment and stay home,” said Greg Morrisett, vice provost at Cornell Tech. “It’s giving a leg up to both China and India in terms of feeding their startup ecosystems.”

For Bradley Tusk, the CEO of Tusk Venture Partners, the changes to the H-1B program are simply “terrible.” American companies have to have access to top talent in order to compete at the highest levels, he said.  

“America’s competitive advantage has always been the ability to attract the best talent from around the world,” Tusk said. “To limit our ability to recruit and compete is illogical.”

WATCH: JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon speaks out on H-1B visa changes