OpenAI’s Ohio Super Data Center Finalized; NVIDIA Provides Up to $105 Billion Guarantee

According to Beating Monitor, OpenAI has officially signed the contract for its Ohio super data center. This project had previously been disclosed, when OpenAI was still negotiating a long-term lease with SB Energy and NVIDIA was only considering providing guarantees. Now, the first phase of 4.25 GW has been finalized, and NVIDIA can continue securing the remaining approximately 3.75 GW. Earlier discussions had considered a maximum guarantee of $250 billion; the final guarantee cap for the first phase is set at $105 billion. This is not direct funding to OpenAI. NVIDIA is only required to cover any shortfall if OpenAI goes bankrupt or fails to pay rent, and the project cannot be re-leased or sold at full value. OpenAI will later repay NVIDIA for any actual funds it has advanced. NVIDIA will also invest $1.5 billion in the developer, SB Energy, and the facility will primarily utilize NVIDIA’s AI computing power. Jensen Huang estimates that each generation of systems deployed here could correspond to approximately 1.5 million GPUs and generate $150 to $200 billion in revenue. Previously, critics questioned this model as “circular financing”—NVIDIA backing its customers’ infrastructure while customers use the funds to buy large quantities of NVIDIA chips. Huang addressed this directly, emphasizing that NVIDIA is only assuming specific risks related to rent, electricity, and asset residual value—not the entire project on behalf of OpenAI.