Nvidia’s Billion-Dollar A.I. Pitch: How the Chip Giant Ramps Up Startup Bets

There’s no question that Nvidia is one of the biggest winners of the A.I. boom so far. Funneled by an insatiable demand for its graphics processing units (GPUs), the chipmaker’s stock has skyrocketed by more than 450 percent since early 2023. As Nvidia’s market cap and revenue soar, so does the pace of its investing in A.I. startups. More than half of the company’s startup investments since 2005 took place in the past two years.

The value of the company’s startup investments reportedly...