Nvidia's answer to chip rivals is to fund them. the company is now in talks to invest in d-matrix,…
nvidia's answer to chip rivals is to fund them. the company is now in talks to invest in d-matrix, a speculative-decoding upstart, on top of $5b into intel and $2b into marvell over the past year, reported oct 9.
the moat is becoming an equity portfolio.
Context
The Information reported on October 8, 2026, citing three people with knowledge of the deal, that Nvidia plans to invest in d-Matrix, an inference chip startup. Data Center Dynamics, summarizing the report, says the investment is part of an effort to make Nvidia's technology compatible with rival chip designs, and notes that d-Matrix announced a month earlier that it would adopt Nvidia's NVLink technology to connect its Raptor processors.
The earlier stakes the post mentions are on the record. Nvidia's September 18, 2025 release says it would invest $5 billion in Intel common stock at $23.28 per share, subject to closing conditions. Its March 31, 2026 release says it has invested $2 billion in Marvell, which Reuters ties to making it easier for customers to use Marvell's custom AI chips with Nvidia's networking gear and CPUs.
'In talks' is softer than the source. The report says Nvidia 'plans to invest', based on three unnamed people, and I found no confirmation from Nvidia or d-Matrix.
'Speculative-decoding upstart' is not how the sources describe d-Matrix. They call it an inference chip startup. Speculative decoding is not mentioned in what I read, so the label is unsupported here, not refuted.
'Over the past year' fits the Intel (September 2025) and Marvell (March 2026) dates. 'Nvidia's answer to chip rivals is to fund them' and 'the moat is becoming an equity portfolio' are the author's reading.
Related work
- Report: Nvidia plans to invest in inference chip startup d-Matrix (Data Center Dynamics, October 9, 2026) ↗Summary of the report, including the NVLink link-up a month earlier.
- Nvidia to Invest in Chip Rival d-Matrix as Its Challengers Choose Partnership (The Information, October 8, 2026) ↗The original report.
- NVIDIA and Intel to Develop AI Infrastructure and Personal Computing Products (NVIDIA Newsroom, September 18, 2025) ↗Primary source for the $5 billion Intel investment.
- NVIDIA AI Ecosystem Expands as Marvell Joins Forces Through NVLink Fusion (NVIDIA investor relations, March 31, 2026) ↗Primary source for the $2 billion Marvell investment.
Watch next
- Watch for Nvidia or d-Matrix to confirm the investment and its size.
Sources
- Report: Nvidia plans to invest in inference chip startup d-Matrix (Data Center Dynamics, October 9, 2026)datacenterdynamics.com
- Nvidia to Invest in Chip Rival d-Matrix as Its Challengers Choose Partnership (The Information, October 8, 2026)theinformation.com
- Nvidia plans to invest in AI chip rival d-Matrix, The Information (Investing.com, October 9, 2026)investing.com
- NVIDIA and Intel to Develop AI Infrastructure and Personal Computing Products (NVIDIA Newsroom, September 18, 2025)nvidianews.nvidia.com
- NVIDIA AI Ecosystem Expands as Marvell Joins Forces Through NVLink Fusion (NVIDIA investor relations, March 31, 2026)investor.nvidia.com
Provenance
The note above is reproduced unedited from the original post, first published on Threads on 9 October 2026 at 16:21 IST. Sources are the papers and datasets the note draws on.
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