NVIDIA · 2026-11-13 · rumor
WSJ: Nvidia backed buyers' loans — so they could keep buying its GPUs
In short
The Wall Street Journal reports that Nvidia backed AI cloud firms and data-center builders with credit support so they could keep buying its chips. Interim CEO Colette Kress pushed to limit these deals before Jensen Huang left. Nvidia has not confirmed.
NVIDIA · 2026-11-13 · 3 sources checked
A WSJ report says Nvidia guaranteed its customers' loans so they could keep buying Nvidia GPUs.
What is it?
The Wall Street Journal, as relayed by Wccftech and Guru3D, reports that Nvidia offered AI cloud providers and data-center developers credit support: Nvidia acted as a backstop so they could borrow more easily to build data centers and buy its chips, and shared in their revenue in return. The report says Colette Kress, then CFO and now interim CEO, clashed with Jensen Huang over these deals in a tense August 2026 meeting.
How does it work?
According to the report, Huang said prepaid TSMC wafers and memory were "coming at him like an avalanche", and the financing kept that supply moving to buyers. Kress questioned how the deals were chosen, valued and priced. In an OpenAI data-center deal in Ohio, she reportedly cut Nvidia's commitment roughly in half after a guarantee of about $250 billion drew scrutiny.
Why does it matter?
If the WSJ account holds, part of the recent GPU shortage was demand that Nvidia itself financed, not only organic demand. Guru3D reports that Nvidia has suspended parts of the program and that new commitments now go through management and the board. That could slow the money flowing to smaller AI clouds that rent out Nvidia GPUs.
Who is it for?
teams that rent GPUs from smaller AI clouds, and anyone tracking AI chip supply
Try it
Watch Nvidia's Q3 FY2027 earnings call on November 17, 2026, the first chance for management to comment.