The goal is over $500 billion of outside capital flowing into AI factories the way it flows into roads and power plants. NVIDIA backstops up to 25 per cent of residual value per project.
- On 11 August NVIDIA laid out a model where AI factories are financed as productive infrastructure.
- Among the institutions named are Apollo, BlackRock, Blackstone, Brookfield, Goldman Sachs and KKR.
- The hourly rental for an H100 rose from $1.70 to $2.35 between October 2025 and March 2026.
Here is what you pay for when you pay for AI. Not software. A building, power, cooling and machines somebody bought with other people's money.
I am watching the staging. When the maker of the machines guarantees part of their residual value, it is not selling machines. It is taking risk off the bank so the bank is comfortable financing the buyer.
And it is rising. From $1.70 to $2.35 in five months on the most wanted card. If you are costing a project that runs on rented compute, put that slope in the model.