Nvidia is shifting from a traditional hardware sales model to functioning as a "central bank of AI," offering revenue guarantees, debt guarantees, and equity stakes in startups to finance customer chip purchases. This creates near-$300 trillion in hidden liabilities. While effective during AI growth, the strategy mirrors pre-2000 Dot-com tactics (like Cisco's financing boom), risking severe losses if AI demand slows or compute capacity oversupplies without sufficient revenue generation to cover guarantees.