OpenAI and Broadcom are currently in negotiations regarding how the AI chip that the two companies announced they would be co-developing in October 2025 will be financed.

Per a report from The Information, production costs alone for the full 10GW project, which has been code-named Nexus, could reach $18 billion – although that figure could further increase once data center construction and other costs are taken into account.

Earlier this month, the Wall Street Journal reported that OpenAI has missed internal targets for new users and revenue, with the publication claiming that CFO Sarah Friar told company leaders she was worried the generative AI giant might not be able to pay for future computing contracts if revenue doesn’t grow fast enough.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Friar denied these claims in a joint statement. Despite this, the company is on track to lose around $14bn in 2026 alone and expects its operations to burn more than $200bn through 2029.

The Information further reported that, per a memo sent by an unnamed OpenAI exec last month, Broadcom is only willing to fund the first phase of development if Microsoft agrees to buy approximately 40 percent of the chips, which would be installed in its data centers and rented back to OpenAI.

Should Microsoft decline to do so, OpenAI would need to find another way to finance the project. To complicate matters further, Sachin Katti, OpenAI’s head of compute, reportedly said any Microsoft involvement would make the deal “financially unattractive” and described the commercial structure as “likely unworkable.”

In April 2026, Microsoft and OpenAI amended the terms of their partnership agreement, updating the revenue share deal between the partners and scrapping Microsoft’s IP exclusivity rights. Since 2019, Microsoft has invested more than $13bn in OpenAI, becoming its sole compute provider until demand for ChatGPT led OpenAI to seek additional compute resources.

Currently, a draft agreement includes a provision for OpenAI source alternative buyers should Microsoft not purchase the percentage stipulated by Broadcom.

At present, The Information said Broadcom and OpenAI were working towards a “conditional” agreement that would allow Broadcom to “confidently allocate” manufacturing capacity at TSMC for the custom chip, the report added, noting that time was of the essence due to growing demand for allocation with the Taiwanese chip manufacturer.