Welcome back to Daily Zaps, your regularly-scheduled dose of AI news ⚡️ 

Here’s what we got for ya today:

• OpenAI and NVIDIA AI project

• Microsoft is also betting on AI datacenters

• H-1B fee hurt AI companies?

• Gen Z’s hiring nightmare but don’t blame AI

Let’s get right into it!

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BIG TECH

OpenAI and NVIDIA AI project

OpenAI and NVIDIA have signed a letter of intent to launch what they call the largest AI infrastructure project in history, aimed at building OpenAI’s next generation of compute capacity to train and run frontier AI models on the path toward superintelligence. The partnership will see OpenAI deploy at least 10 gigawatts of AI data centers powered by millions of NVIDIA GPUs across multiple GPU generations, expanding beyond its existing CSP deployments already accelerated by NVIDIA.

As part of the deal, NVIDIA will serve as OpenAI’s preferred strategic compute and networking partner and intends to invest up to $100 billion progressively as each gigawatt comes online. The first phase of deployment will begin in the second half of 2026 on the NVIDIA Vera Rubin platform, laying the groundwork for massive “AI factories” capable of handling the training and inference demands of OpenAI’s most advanced models.

The joke about this arrangement is in graphic below. Oracle stock is up 30% in the last month.

BIG TECH

Microsoft is also betting on AI datacenters

This week Microsoft unveiled major AI infrastructure investments worldwide, highlighted by the launch of Fairwater in Wisconsin, its largest and most advanced AI datacenter yet, with identical facilities under construction across the U.S., alongside new hyperscale AI datacenter projects in Narvik, Norway and Loughton, UK. Purpose-built to power frontier AI workloads, these datacenters represent tens of billions in investment and house hundreds of thousands of NVIDIA GPUs interconnected as single supercomputers, delivering up to 10x the performance of today’s fastest systems.

CAREERS

H-1B fee hurt AI companies?

President Trump’s proposal to impose a $100,000 fee on H-1B visa applications has sparked alarm across the U.S. startup ecosystem, with founders, venture capitalists, and immigration experts warning it would disproportionately harm early-stage companies that depend on global talent to compete.

Critics argue the policy could choke off innovation by raising barriers to critical hires, reduce venture capital appetite for U.S. startups reliant on H-1B workers, and even redirect funding and talent toward markets like the U.K., Canada, and Europe. While opponents of the H-1B program say it takes jobs from Americans, economists and investors emphasize that foreign hires are often decisive for startup success, enabling breakthroughs, international networks, and growth.

CAREERS

Don’t blame AI for Gen Z’s hiring nightmare

The sharp rise in U.S. youth unemployment among recent graduates has become one of 2025’s most pressing economic challenges, with experts attributing less to AI and more labor market marked by low turnover. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell acknowledged the struggles of younger and minority jobseekers, citing a historically low job-finding rate as firms restrain hiring even while avoiding layoffs.

Meanwhile, trade work and blue-collar entrepreneurship are emerging as viable alternatives, but history shows graduates entering during downturns face lasting disadvantages, raising alarms about the long-term consequences for Gen Z.