OpenAI Chip Project’s $18 Billion Funding Encounters Obstacles as Lenders Grow Cautious About Returns on AI Infrastructure

Mars Finance News, according to The Information, OpenAI was unable to secure approximately $18 billion in external financing, which was originally planned to support the early deployment of its custom chip project developed in partnership with Broadcom. The project plans to deploy 10 gigawatts of computing power using OpenAI’s self-developed chips, which is a core strategy for the company to reduce reliance on Nvidia. The original agreement announced in October 2025 outlined a total hardware construction scale of about $500 billion.
The financing setback is due to lenders becoming increasingly cautious about AI infrastructure deals backed by OpenAI’s expected revenue, coupled with recent reports that OpenAI has not met its internal growth targets, further heightening investor concerns. More broadly, estimates suggest that AI capital expenditure for large-scale enterprises will reach between $600 billion and $720 billion in 2026, but Nvidia’s accounts receivable have already approached $33 billion, indicating that buyer settlement cycles are generally lengthening.
OpenAI currently faces three options: reorganize this round of financing, change lenders, or reduce the scale of chip deployment.