Nvidia Backs OpenAI’s Ohio Data Center With Up to $105 Billion Guarantee

Nvidia has agreed to provide up to $105 billion in financial guarantees supporting a massive OpenAI data center campus in Ohio, according to an 8-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The chipmaker entered into agreements with SoftBank-backed SB Energy covering leases for approximately 4.25 gigawatts of initial IT capacity at the PORTS-Pike Technology Campus in Pike County, with OpenAI as the tenant. Nvidia can also elect to provide credit support for roughly another 3.8 gigawatts of capacity.

Under the arrangement, SB Energy will build, own and operate the data centers, while OpenAI will lease the facilities for 20 years and fill them with Nvidia computing infrastructure. Nvidia will be the exclusive AI compute provider for the campus and is separately investing $1.5 billion in SB Energy. The full project is expected to reach 8 gigawatts of IT capacity, with the first capacity scheduled to come online beginning in 2028.

The $105 billion figure represents Nvidia’s maximum contingent obligation rather than an upfront payment. The guarantees become effective as individual leases commence and could require Nvidia to make payments if certain obligations associated with the OpenAI leases are not met. The arrangement gives Nvidia a financial role far beyond simply selling GPUs into the project, effectively using its balance sheet to help secure the land, power and facilities needed to deploy its computing systems.

The Ohio deal highlights how Nvidia’s role in the AI boom is expanding from chip supplier to infrastructure financier. By backing one of OpenAI’s largest planned data-center developments while ensuring the campus exclusively uses Nvidia computing technology, the company is helping finance the infrastructure that will ultimately create demand for its own products. The strategy could accelerate the buildout of AI capacity, but it also increases Nvidia’s financial exposure to the customers and infrastructure projects driving its extraordinary growth.