NVIDIA released 100+ models for free (Nemotron, Cosmos, Llama Nemotron, etc.). The strategy: give away the razor (model), sell the razor blade (compute).
The Pattern
Distribute models at zero marginal cost to drive demand for infrastructure.
How It Works
Release high-quality models free and open
Every download creates a developer trained on your stack
Every deployment requires infrastructure you sell
NVIDIA’s Model Portfolio
Nemotron: Language models
Cosmos: World models
Alpamayo: Reasoning VLA
GROOT: Robotics
Clara: Medical
Parakeet: Speech
Edify: Media
Each creates demand for NVIDIA GPUs. Meta’s Llama follows similar logic—free models drive cloud consumption on partners’ infrastructure.
Unit Economics
The marginal cost of modeldistribution approaches zero. The marginal revenue from infrastructure is substantial. OpenAI inverted this (charge for models, subsidize compute), but NVIDIA’s approach creates lock-in at the infrastructure layer—making it harder to displace.
Strategic Implication
Models are marketing. Infrastructure is the business. The platform player wins by enabling the ecosystem.
Gennaro is the creator of FourWeekMBA, which reached about four million business people, comprising C-level executives, investors, analysts, product managers, and aspiring digital entrepreneurs in 2022 alone | He is also Director of Sales for a high-tech scaleup in the AI Industry | In 2012, Gennaro earned an International MBA with emphasis on Corporate Finance and Business Strategy.
