Nvidia Bets Billions on Safe Superintelligence as US-Iran Pause and Russia-Ukraine Attacks Rattle Markets
Nvidia has invested billions in Safe Superintelligence Inc. (SSI), the AI startup led by former OpenAI chief scientist Ilya Sutskever, in a deal that will sharply expand the company's compute capacity [1]. SSI announced a "long-term strategic partnership" with Nvidia on Monday, w
Nvidia has invested billions in Safe Superintelligence Inc. (SSI), the AI startup led by former OpenAI chief scientist Ilya Sutskever, in a deal that will sharply expand the company's compute capacity [1]. SSI announced a "long-term strategic partnership" with Nvidia on Monday, with Bloomberg reporting the investment at $5 billion [1]. The company said the partnership will let it "10x our compute in the next 12 months" and wrote on X that "we reached the point where our research is worth scaling" [1].
The deal marks one of the largest single investments in a pure AI-research startup this year and underscores how chip giants are locking up relationships with top labs. Sutskever, who co-founded OpenAI and later clashed with CEO Sam Altman, launched SSI with a focus on building safe artificial general intelligence [1].
While tech markets digested the Nvidia-SSI news, geopolitical tensions were also driving headlines. Oil prices tumbled Monday after the United States and Iran paused strikes following 13 consecutive nights of attacks that had shattered their deal to end the war [2]. Brent crude sank more than 8% to below $88 a barrel, while U.S. crude dropped more than 7% to around $82, reversing gains from last week when Brent hit $102 [2]. President Donald Trump told reporters the U.S. is talking with Iran "right now," while U.S. Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz said the pause was meant to give negotiations "space" [2].
The Strait of Hormuz remains effectively closed, with just 29 verified transits recorded from Friday to Sunday, according to an NBC News analysis of MarineTraffic data [2]. Tehran's Foreign Ministry spokesman said Monday that Iran has "no negotiations with the American side" at present and would "continue to defend ourselves" [2].
Meanwhile, Russia and Ukraine traded deadly attacks over the weekend. Russian forces killed at least six people in Ukraine after launching seven ballistic missiles and 136 drones overnight, including a strike on a supermarket in Chernihiv that killed two people, including a nine-year-old girl, and wounded 25 others [3]. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called it "deliberate Russian terror with absolutely no military justification" [3]. Russian officials said four civilians were killed in a Ukrainian drone strike on the occupied city of Horlivka, and at least 12 people were hurt in a Ukrainian attack on the Russian border city of Belgorod [3].
The United Nations says civilian casualties have climbed sharply in 2026, with 1,396 civilians killed and 7,978 wounded in Ukraine in the first six months of the year [3]. U.S.-led talks on ending the fighting have stalled as the Kremlin continues to press its offensive in eastern Ukraine [3].