Nvidia commits $1 billion to US AI research and eyes robot firm Figure

Nvidia is expanding its strategic investments in artificial intelligence and robotics. The company has discussed a potential $1 billion reinvestment in humanoid robot manufacturer Figure, which is currently seeking funding at a pre-money valuation of approximately $38 billion. This move comes as CEO Jensen Huang seeks to diversify Nvidia's ecosystem and reduce reliance on a small number of major AI customers.

In a separate development, 11 technology companies have committed $2.4 billion in AI tools and computing resources to support the Trump administration's ‘Genesis Mission’. Nvidia is the largest contributor, pledging $1 billion over the next five years to support higher education, quantum computing, and government-related cloud services.

Other major contributors to the initiative include AMD ($500 million), OpenAI ($200 million), and both Anthropic and Alphabet ($150 million each). The mission aims to provide researchers across more than 15 federal agencies with the computational power and AI models necessary to accelerate breakthroughs in energy, healthcare, and materials science.