Nvidia guarantees up to $105 billion for OpenAI’s Ohio data centre

Nvidia has capped its payment obligations at $105 billion under agreements linked to a massive artificial intelligence data centre being built for OpenAI in Ohio, according to a regulatory filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The data centre, being developed by SoftBank-owned SB Energy at the PORTS-Pike Technology Campus in Pike County, Ohio, will have an initial capacity of 4.25 gigawatts (GW) and could eventually reach 8 GW.

OpenAI will lease the facility for 20 years, while SB Energy will build, own and operate it.Nvidia will be the exclusive provider of AI computing infrastructure at the campus. “NVIDIA’s aggregate payment obligation is cumulatively capped at $105 billion for its initial commitment under the Agreements,” the company said in the SEC filing.

The filing said Nvidia’s payment obligations will be subject to certain conditions. These include SB Energy meeting the required “ready-for-service” conditions for the relevant parts of the data centre.

These conditions are expected to start from 2028.The $105 billion is not an upfront investment by Nvidia. Instead, it is the maximum amount Nvidia could be required to pay under the agreements, subject to the conditions set out in the filing.The guarantees are linked to the leases for the data centre.

In certain situations, including a default by OpenAI, Nvidia could be required to make payments linked to the guaranteed value of the facility, according to the filing.

Nvidia to invest $1.5 billion in SB Energy

Alongside the guarantee, Nvidia will invest $1.5 billion in SB Energy. The investment will make Nvidia an investor in SB Energy alongside SoftBank Group and OpenAI.

Nvidia said the deal will secure the land, power and infrastructure needed to build AI data centres at the Ohio site. The first 800 megawatts of capacity is expected to come online in 2028, with the wider campus being developed in phases.Nvidia has committed to support the initial 4.25 GW of AI computing capacity, with an option to support another 3.75 GW. This would take the total potential capacity of the campus to 8 GW.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said the project reflects the growing importance of physical infrastructure for AI.“AI is becoming infrastructure – the foundation for intelligence in every industry – and land, power and shell have become vital in the age of AI. Now is the time to scale the AI infrastructure that will power the next industrial revolution,” Huang said.

Huang said Nvidia’s involvement would allow OpenAI to keep upgrading the computing systems at the Ohio campus as newer Nvidia technology becomes available.

“We are securing long-lived infrastructure for NVIDIA compute so OpenAI can deploy the most productive AI factories that can be upgraded repeatedly with each new generation delivering more intelligence and better economics,” he said.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said the scale of the Ohio data centre would allow the company to expand the use of AI across areas such as healthcare and business. “This is going to be a huge site, with enough computing power to help millions of people use AI to do things we can only start to imagine today, from finding new medicines to starting businesses and solving hard problems,” Altman said.

“We’re proud to build it in Pike County, a place that is once again at the heart of American industry and leading the future,” he added. “We want the people who live here to feel the benefits too, through good jobs, more opportunity for local businesses, and investment in the community for years to come.”

The Ohio project is also expected to require a major expansion of the region’s power infrastructure. SB Energy and SoftBank plan to build at least 10 GW of new electricity generation, while at least $4.2 billion is expected to be invested in regional grid infrastructure through a partnership with AEP Ohio. Nvidia said the campus will use its full-stack DSX AI factory platform, including its GPUs, CPUs and networking technology.

The project is expected to create tens of thousands of jobs in Ohio, with the campus planned to come online in phases beginning in 2028. SB Energy and OpenAI have also committed a combined $80 million to community initiatives in the region.

The deal highlights the enormous cost of building infrastructure for generative AI and the growing role of Nvidia beyond simply selling chips. By providing financial backing for the Ohio facility and becoming its exclusive AI compute provider, Nvidia is tying its technology to one of OpenAI’s largest planned computing sites.

The $105 billion figure should therefore be read as a maximum cumulative payment obligation under Nvidia’s agreements, rather than a $105 billion cash investment or direct project expenditure.