TL;DR
At the Q&A session of GTC Berlin on October 22, 2026, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang proposed licensing enterprise software for AI-agent environments on a per-GPU basis, with a reference price of about $2,000 per GPU per year (~RMB 13,500). The figure coexists with the existing NVIDIA AI Enterprise subscription of $4,500 per GPU per year; the covered scope and terms have not been published.
Background
NVIDIA's revenue depends heavily on one-time AI chip hardware sales. To diversify, NVIDIA plans to expand its software business and earn more stable recurring revenue by selling enterprise software licenses. On October 22, 2026, Huang detailed this software licensing plan during the public Q&A at the GTC event in Berlin; Kuaikeji (Fast Technology) reported it on October 26.
The Subscription Proposal and Reference Price
- Huang proposed that software bundled for running AI agents could be licensed on a per-GPU-count basis.
- The reference pricing example is about $2,000 per GPU per year (about RMB 13,500).
- The target scenario is compute devices inside AI factories, providing the full software stack, management tools and security capabilities needed to run AI agents.
- The figure is a publicly mentioned illustrative example, not an officially adopted uniform pricing standard.
Differences from Existing AI Enterprise Pricing
NVIDIA's existing enterprise software subscription business has been commercialized for years. NVIDIA AI Enterprise targets enterprise on-premise data centers, with official pricing of $4,500 per GPU per year (including support) for one-year subscriptions, and $18,000 per GPU for five years, roughly flat on an annualized basis.
| Plan | Price | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Huang's AI-agent software reference price | About $2,000/GPU/year | Illustrative example, details unpublished |
| NVIDIA AI Enterprise 1-year | $4,500/GPU (incl. support) | Current official pricing |
| NVIDIA AI Enterprise 5-year | $18,000/GPU | Current official pricing |
Whether the two prices cover the same software scope, license terms and services is unknown, so $2,000 should not be read simply as a price cut on existing products; it is more likely a lightweight, dedicated plan for specific AI-agent runtime environments.
Market Sizing and the Second Curve
Using Huang's illustrative price: if 5 million NVIDIA GPUs adopt a $2,000/year license, theoretical annual revenue reaches $10 billion; sustained over five years at the same installed base, cumulative revenue reaches $50 billion. These are derived estimates based on public assumptions, not NVIDIA official forecasts. NVIDIA has not disclosed the GPU count, covered products, rollout timing or contract terms for the new model.
Impact
Software subscription is seen as NVIDIA's second growth curve beyond AI chip hardware: hardware sells once, while software subscription generates recurring cash flow per installed GPU, with higher margins and steadier cycles. For enterprise users of NVIDIA GPUs, total cost of ownership must now include software license fees beyond hardware procurement.
Sources and References
- Kuaikeji report (October 26, 2026): link