Tuesday 15 September 2026
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Nvidia denies pausing AI cloud partnerships as record earnings and next-gen chip ramp dominate headlines

Company pushes back on WSJ report of halted revenue-sharing deals while forecasting $108 billion quarterly revenue and launching DLSS 5

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By LineZotpaper
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Updated
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Sources8 outlets
Nvidia on Friday denied a Wall Street Journal report that it had paused some transactions under its new AI Compute Partnership initiative, even as the company announced record quarterly revenue of $96.2 billion and projected $108 billion for the next quarter. The disagreement over partner restrictions comes as Nvidia prepares to ship its fastest-ramping data center product in history and launches its controversial DLSS 5 neural rendering technology.

Nvidia's denial follows a Wall Street Journal report on Thursday claiming the company had placed some deals under its recently introduced 'take or pay' AI Compute Partnership on hold. According to the report, Nvidia told participating cloud providers they could only lease its GPUs to customers approved by Nvidia, and preferred spreading capacity across multiple smaller AI companies rather than allowing a single large customer to take most of it. Some cloud operators reportedly pushed back, arguing they should retain control over which customers they serve, leading Nvidia to pause certain transactions. Internal concerns about potential antitrust scrutiny were also cited.

"The new business model we introduced in July that opens up compute access to the fast-growing AI ecosystem is still in place and continues to evolve due to high demand," a spokesperson for Nvidia told Tom's Hardware.

The controversy unfolded against a backdrop of staggering financial results. Nvidia reported $96.2 billion in overall revenue for the second quarter of fiscal 2027, with data center revenue alone reaching a record $89 billion. Profits more than doubled to $59.7 billion. The company forecast $108 billion in revenue for the third quarter—a figure that would put it on track to become the tech industry's second-largest company by revenue.

Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress said during the earnings call that Nvidia expects the Vera Rubin platform to account for about 20% of data center revenue in Q3, representing roughly $20 billion in sales. "Having already received purchase orders from every major hyperscaler, AI cloud, and system OEM, we expect Vera Rubin to mark the fastest product ramp in Nvidia's history," Kress said. First revenue shipments of VR200 NVL72 racks began in August, with Microsoft among the early deployers.

Separately, Nvidia confirmed that DLSS 5—its AI-driven neural rendering technology—will launch on September 3 with the title NBA2K27, available on all RTX 50-series GPUs, laptops, and GeForce NOW. The company shared initial benchmarks showing performance at 4K for the RTX 5090 and 5080. CEO Jensen Huang described DLSS 5 as "the GPT moment for graphics."

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Analysis

Why This Matters

  • Nvidia's AI Compute Partnership is a key mechanism for smaller AI companies to access GPU capacity. Any restrictions or delays could affect the broader AI startup ecosystem.
  • The reported partner pushback and antitrust concerns highlight growing tensions between Nvidia and cloud providers over control of the AI infrastructure supply chain.
  • Vera Rubin's record ramp signals that demand for Nvidia's latest hardware remains insatiable, further cementing the company's dominance in AI computing.

Background

Nvidia introduced its AI Compute Partnership in early July 2026, committing to rent capacity of newly built AI data centers and guarantee minimum revenue under "take or pay" agreements. The program is designed to open compute access to the fast-growing AI ecosystem without Nvidia directly financing data center construction. Less than two months later, the Wall Street Journal reported that Nvidia had put some deals on hold after cloud partners objected to conditions that would give Nvidia control over which end customers could lease GPU capacity.

Key Perspectives

Nvidia: The company maintains its program is in place and evolving due to high demand, denying that deals have been paused. It argues the model provides needed compute access to a wide range of AI companies. Cloud providers: Some partners reportedly want full autonomy over customer selection and resist restrictions that could limit their ability to serve large clients or control pricing. Antitrust regulators and critics: The reported conditions could raise concerns about Nvidia leveraging its dominant GPU position to control downstream markets. The company's market power makes any such restrictions a potential target for scrutiny.

What to Watch

  • Vera Rubin shipment volumes and whether Nvidia can sustain the extraordinary 20% revenue mix in Q3 without supply constraints.
  • Any further reporting or official statements from the WSJ or Nvidia regarding the status of specific partnership deals.
  • Potential regulatory interest from antitrust authorities in the US, EU, or China regarding Nvidia's cloud partnership terms.

Sources

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Articles published under the Zotpaper byline are synthesized from multiple source publications by our AI editor and reviewed by our editorial process. Each story combines reporting from credible outlets to give readers a balanced, comprehensive view.

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