Nvidia negotiates with insurers to share AI chip financing risk

Nvidia has held early-stage talks with insurance companies to shift part of the financing risk tied to its artificial intelligence chips, the Financial Times reported on September 29, 2026. The discussions aim to expand demand for its hardware beyond the largest technology corporations.

The potential structures focus on insuring loans made to smaller neocloud companies. These policies would protect lenders if a borrower defaults and the Nvidia chips pledged as collateral fail to resell for enough to cover the outstanding debt. The talks are preliminary and might not result in agreements, according to people familiar with the matter.

The effort aligns with a push by Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang to treat chips and AI infrastructure as an investable asset class similar to other long-lived technological equipment. Nvidia has shared data covering chip depreciation and expected future values of computing power with at least one insurer, while working on a framework with reinsurance broker Howden Re. Howden declined to comment to the Financial Times.

Nvidia has also explored syndicating this risk through insurers to hedge funds and alternative investors, as deal sizes could surpass the balance sheets of traditional insurers. Nvidia has considered joining consortia with insurers, asset managers, and hedge funds.

This insurance initiative follows an offer by Nvidia to backstop part of financing transactions designed to unlock $500 billion from Wall Street firms such as Goldman Sachs and Apollo. Separately, the company announced a record $150 billion share buyback on September 28, 2026.