Nvidia to fund up to $105 billion for OpenAI data center in Ohio
Nvidia will provide up to $105 billion in financing to support credit and computing capacity for a new OpenAI AI data center in Ohio. The facility will initially support 4.25 gigawatts of capacity, with operations starting in 2028.
Nvidia will provide up to $105 billion in financing to support credit and computing capacity for a new artificial intelligence (AI) data center for OpenAI in Ohio, the chipmaker said on Monday. The funding will initially support 4.25 gigawatts of computing capacity, with the option to add an additional 3.75 gigawatts. The capacity is expected to become available gradually starting in 2028.
SB Energy will build and manage the data center at the PORTS-Pike technology campus in the city of Piketon, Ohio, under a 20-year lease agreement with OpenAI. The advanced AI lab holds a stake in the company, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman was also an early investor in SB Energy.
"We are securing long-term infrastructure for Nvidia's computing capabilities so that OpenAI can deploy the most productive AI factories possible, which can be upgraded again and again. Each new generation will provide more intelligence and better usage economics," Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said in a statement.
CNBC previously reported that Nvidia had been in talks with OpenAI to provide a guarantee of up to $250 billion, which would allow the model development company to raise debt to build a 10-gigawatt data center at the Ohio site. The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Nvidia is expected to reduce the guarantee amount to less than $120 billion for the construction of the complex.
This deal is Nvidia's latest financial move in a series of steps to support the construction of the massive AI data center. Last week, Nvidia arranged $500 billion in financing for customers purchasing its hardware for data center projects. As part of the Ohio deal, SB Energy and SoftBank will build energy sources supporting 10 gigawatts of power and invest at least $4.2 billion in the region's power grid infrastructure. Nvidia will invest $1.5 billion in SB Energy.
OpenAI noted that the new data center will support 35,000 new construction jobs by 2032 and 2,500 long-term jobs. OpenAI President Greg Brockman said on CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Monday that computing power is a "fundamental resource" for the industry.
"Computing power is really becoming the new oil, the new scarce resource of the AI era," he said.
