Nvidia is putting serious money behind OpenAI’s vision for what could become one of the largest AI computing facilities ever built. The chipmaker is negotiating a direct investment of up to $3 billion in SB Energy, the SoftBank subsidiary developing a colossal data center campus in Pike County, Ohio.
The investment would be split into two tranches: $1.5 billion upon signing and another $1.5 billion tied to SB Energy’s planned IPO. If the full project materializes, total costs could surpass $500 billion.
A 10-gigawatt bet on AI’s future
The Ohio campus is designed to eventually reach 10 gigawatts of power capacity. SB Energy, operating under SoftBank’s umbrella, is leading the development. The site in Pike County was selected for its available land and existing power infrastructure.
The first phase of the campus is expected to come online around 2028.
Previous discussions between Nvidia and OpenAI had floated potential investments of up to $100 billion specifically tied to deploying 10 gigawatts of Nvidia’s AI systems. The current deal structure appears more targeted, focusing Nvidia’s capital on the energy and infrastructure side through SB Energy rather than on direct hardware deployment commitments.
The guarantee gets a haircut
One of the more interesting wrinkles in the negotiations involves Nvidia’s financial guarantees for OpenAI’s leasing capacity at the facility. Initial discussions had Nvidia on the hook for roughly $250 billion in guarantees. That number has since been reworked to under $120 billion.
The revised structure focuses primarily on helping OpenAI lease capacity at the facility.