Nvidia Backs OpenAI’s Ohio Data Center
Nvidia will provide up to $105 billion in financial guarantees tied to OpenAI’s planned data center campus in Ohio. The agreement supports OpenAI’s 20-year lease of the facility, which SB Energy, a SoftBank subsidiary, will develop.
The project will rise at the PORTS-Pike Technology Campus in Pike County, Ohio. Moreover, the campus could eventually support about 8 gigawatts of computing capacity. The first 800 megawatts are expected to come online in 2028.
Nvidia will also invest $1.5 billion in SB Energy. Consequently, the chipmaker is taking a deeper role in the infrastructure needed to support OpenAI’s expanding AI workloads.
Nvidia Backs OpenAI’s Massive Compute Expansion
The Ohio campus will provide OpenAI with dedicated computing capacity under a long-term lease. Initially, the project will cover about 4.25 gigawatts of IT capacity. Eventually, the planned expansion could bring the total to roughly 8 gigawatts.
Meanwhile, Nvidia will serve as the exclusive supplier of AI computing technology for the initial phase. That arrangement could generate significant demand for Nvidia’s GPUs and related systems as the campus expands.
However, the $105 billion figure does not represent a direct payment toward the entire construction cost. Instead, Nvidia’s guarantees cover specific obligations connected with the project, including lease and power payments and the value of the completed infrastructure.
The structure also limits Nvidia’s exposure compared with earlier reports that suggested guarantees could reach $250 billion. The final commitment therefore represents a substantial reduction from the initially discussed figure.
Ohio Campus Targets Gigawatt-Scale AI Infrastructure
OpenAI plans to lease the Ohio facility for 20 years. At the same time, SB Energy will build, own and operate the campus. The arrangement gives OpenAI access to large-scale infrastructure without owning the underlying data center.
Furthermore, the project will require substantial new energy infrastructure. The broader development is expected to involve up to 10 gigawatts of new power capacity and billions of dollars in grid upgrades
The scale also carries major economic implications for Ohio. The project is expected to create about 35,000 construction jobs and 2,500 permanent positions.
OpenAI’s growing demand for computing power has pushed the company toward increasingly large infrastructure commitments. Therefore, securing dedicated capacity has become a central part of its strategy as AI model training and inference requirements continue to rise.
Nvidia Deepens Its OpenAI Infrastructure Role
The Ohio agreement extends Nvidia’s broader partnership with OpenAI. Previously, Nvidia announced plans to support at least 10 gigawatts of OpenAI infrastructure and potentially invest up to $100 billion in OpenAI as capacity comes online.
Now, the Ohio project gives Nvidia another mechanism for securing long-term demand for its AI systems. At the same time, OpenAI gains access to infrastructure designed specifically around its future computing requirements.
The arrangement has also revived debate over so-called circular financing in the AI industry. Critics argue that close financial relationships between chipmakers, infrastructure providers and AI companies can obscure the true economics of AI expansion.
Nvidia, however, has defended the structure as a long-term infrastructure strategy. The company expects its broader OpenAI relationship to generate substantial hardware demand as additional computing capacity comes online.
As a result, the Ohio project represents more than another data center. It demonstrates how AI companies, chipmakers and infrastructure developers are increasingly linking financing, power generation and computing capacity to support the next phase of AI growth.
