Nvidia Backs $105B Credit for OpenAI's Ohio Data Center Buildout

Nvidia is providing up to $105 billion in financing for a new OpenAI artificial intelligence data center in Ohio, according to a securities filing made public on Monday.

The credit will support an initial 4.25 gigawatts of computing capacity, with an option to add another 3.75 gigawatts later. Nvidia will supply the compute, and the capacity is slated to come online in phases starting in 2028.

SB Energy will construct and operate the facility at the PORTS-Pike Technology Campus in Pike City, Ohio, under a 20-year lease with OpenAI. OpenAI holds a stake in SB Energy, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman was an early investor in the company as well.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said in a statement that the goal is to secure long-lived infrastructure for Nvidia compute, allowing OpenAI to deploy AI factories that can be upgraded with each new generation of chips.

Earlier reports indicated Nvidia was in talks to provide a backstop of up to $250 billion for a 10-gigawatt data center at the same location, but the Wall Street Journal reported last week that the guarantee would be cut to less than $120 billion.

This deal is part of a broader pattern of Nvidia financing moves in the AI data center space, which has raised concerns about circular financing. Last week, Nvidia teamed up with six large asset managers to create platforms for deploying $500 billion in third-party capital toward data center projects.

As part of the Ohio deal, SB Energy and SoftBank will build power sources supporting 10 gigawatts of energy and invest at least $4.2 billion into regional grid infrastructure. Nvidia will also invest $1.5 billion in SB Energy.

OpenAI says the new center will support 35,000 construction jobs through 2032 and 2,500 permanent positions. The facility will give OpenAI more access to high-end chips and computing power.

OpenAI President Greg Brockman told CNBC that compute is a "fundamental resource" for the industry, calling it "the new oil, the new limited resource of the AI age."

Source: CNBC