NVIDIA

Stock futures signal a rebound after a challenging week, with investors tracking geopolitical events and economic data. Oil prices surged past $100/barrel due to tensions around Iran’s oil exports. The Federal Reserve faces scrutiny over a subpoena dispute impacting its operational independence. Nvidia’s GTC conference highlights AI advancements and potential CPU bottlenecks. A voter ID bill faces legislative hurdles, and a potential merger between Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery raises questions about content slate sustainability. Key economic reports and corporate earnings are also on the horizon.

NTT DATA launches an “enterprise AI factory” initiative, leveraging NVIDIA’s GPU-accelerated platforms and software. This solution bridges the gap between AI pilot projects and production deployments, offering a repeatable blueprint for scaling agentic AI. It integrates NVIDIA NeMo and NIM Microservices for a full-stack platform deployable across cloud and edge. The offering aims to standardize AI outputs, reduce time-to-value, and drive measurable returns, as demonstrated by real-world deployments in healthcare, automotive, and manufacturing.

Meta has signed a five-year, $27 billion deal with cloud provider Nebius to boost its AI capabilities. The agreement includes $12 billion in dedicated infrastructure, featuring early deployments of Nvidia’s Vera Rubin chips, and an option for an additional $15 billion in compute resources. This partnership underscores Meta’s commitment to AI development and highlights the growing demand for specialized AI cloud infrastructure.

Nvidia reportedly secured a $20 billion deal with AI startup Groq, licensing its inference technology and key personnel, including CEO Jonathan Ross. This strategic move, ahead of GTC, aims to bolster Nvidia’s position in the cost-sensitive inference market, complementing its training dominance. Ross’s expertise in specialized LPUs and SRAM optimization is expected to enhance Nvidia’s AI ecosystem, potentially mirroring the success of its Mellanox acquisition.

Nvidia is strategically pivoting to emphasize its CPUs, moving beyond its GPU dominance to power the agentic AI revolution. As agentic AI demands more general-purpose processing for data orchestration and coordination, Nvidia’s optimized CPUs are becoming crucial bottlenecks. The company is enhancing its Grace and Vera CPU lines, integrated with its leading GPUs, to meet this growing need. This shift is driven by the exponential growth of AI applications and a projected doubling of the CPU market, positioning Nvidia for comprehensive AI compute solutions.

Nvidia is investing $2 billion in AI cloud company Nebius Group to accelerate AI infrastructure development. The partnership will focus on AI infrastructure, fleet management, and AI factories, granting Nebius early access to Nvidia’s computing platforms. Nebius aims to scale its AI cloud capacity to over five gigawatts by 2030, supported by Nvidia’s cutting-edge technology. This investment is part of Nvidia’s broader strategy to bolster AI development across the sector.

MWC 2026 showcased tangible AI-RAN progress, moving beyond discussion to field trials and product launches. Nvidia announced a major coalition committed to building AI-native 6G, releasing open-source AI tools. Nokia demonstrated successful AI-RAN tests with operators, integrating AI and RAN workloads on shared hardware. Ericsson presented an alternative strategy with its own AI-ready silicon. Operators like SK Telecom and SoftBank revealed plans for AI-native infrastructure overhauls. The hardware ecosystem is also maturing with new AI-RAN products. These developments signal a fundamental shift in connectivity delivery and monetization.

Nvidia is investing $4 billion in Lumentum and Coherent, key photonics companies. This move aims to boost AI infrastructure and high-speed communications by advancing optical and photonic technologies. The investments will accelerate the development of silicon photonics for next-generation AI data centers and advanced networking solutions.

The CNBC Investing Club, led by Jim Cramer, discussed portfolio positioning amidst the Fourth Industrial Revolution, focusing on AI. Key AI frontrunners like Nvidia, Corning, Qunity Electronics, Eaton, and GE Vernova were highlighted for their foundational roles. Broader tech giants like Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, and Microsoft are integrating AI, while cybersecurity and software firms face valuation pressures. The portfolio also includes diversification across financials, industrials, aerospace, retail, consumer staples, and biopharmaceuticals, with strategic plays and turnaround opportunities identified.

Nvidia reported strong earnings, with revenue up 73%, and projected 77% growth for the next quarter. However, its stock dipped due to market concerns about slowing AI infrastructure spending and increasing competition. Major clients like OpenAI and Meta are diversifying their AI chip suppliers, exploring alternatives to Nvidia’s GPUs with offerings from Amazon, Cerebras, AMD, and Google. While Nvidia’s dominance remains substantial, its projected growth rates are expected to decelerate. Despite this, some analysts see Nvidia’s stock as a buying opportunity amidst the evolving AI chip landscape.