George Noble has warned that Nvidia's growing involvement in financing artificial intelligence infrastructure could expose the semiconductor giant to significant financial risks, drawing comparisons with Cisco's vendor-financing practices ahead of the dot-com collapse in 2000.

Noble, a former Fidelity portfolio manager, argued that Nvidia is increasingly supporting demand for its chips through equity investments, customer lease guarantees and commitments to purchase cloud computing capacity. He warned that these arrangements could create circular financing risks if AI infrastructure operators struggle to generate sufficient revenue to meet their obligations.

According to figures cited from Nvidia's financial disclosures, the company held $99bn in equity investments as of July 2026, alongside $25bn in additional investment commitments and $36bn in cloud service purchase commitments. Its maximum guarantee exposure was reported at $108.5bn, including up to $105bn in credit support linked to an Ohio data centre development involving SB Energy and OpenAI.

Noble compared the arrangements with Cisco's financing of telecommunications customers during the dot-com boom, when equipment suppliers extended financial support to businesses purchasing their products. He also highlighted Nvidia's concentration within the S&P 500, where its weighting of approximately 8% was twice Cisco's peak share of the index during the technology bubble.

The warnings come amid growing scrutiny of AI infrastructure financing and the long-term collateral value of advanced semiconductors. Some lenders have questioned whether GPUs will retain sufficient value over extended financing periods, particularly as technological advances accelerate equipment obsolescence. Nvidia has argued that its guarantees cover specific obligations rather than entire projects and that its financing partnerships involve independent institutional investors.