Nvidia Warns Customers of 15% AI Server Price Hikes and Eyes Perplexity Investment at $30 Billion Valuation

Nvidia has told some of its largest customers that prices for servers containing its AI chips will rise more than 15% in many cases, with soaring memory chip costs cited as the primary driver and the increases expected to take effect early next year. The hikes underscore how dependent major technology companies remain on Nvidia hardware despite growing in-house silicon efforts, a dependency reflected in Nvidia's 62.97% net margin on $253.49 billion in total revenue. Separately, Nvidia is in discussions to invest in AI search startup Perplexity as part of a funding round that would value the company at more than $30 billion, according to The Information.

That deal fits a broader pattern in which Nvidia increasingly backs AI startups that rely on its chips, combining hardware sales with strategic equity stakes to deepen its position across the AI ecosystem. SpaceXAI also announced it is adopting Nvidia's Vera CPU to accelerate agentic AI at scale, adding another high-profile customer to the platform. Nvidia shares were under pressure heading into earnings, with investors weighing whether the stock's pullback reflects near-term apprehension around results or a broader unwind of the AI trade.

Seeking Alpha's quant model currently rates Nvidia a Hold, citing a premium valuation balanced against strong and continuing hardware demand.