Nvidia to Invest Up to $105 Billion for OpenAI Data Center

Nvidia Corp. has agreed to spend as much as $105 billion to support a massive new data center campus in Ohio set to be leased by OpenAI, according to a financial filing, marking the latest tie-up between two dominant forces driving the AI boom.

The ChatGPT maker said Monday it has entered into an agreement to secure up to roughly 8 gigawatts of computing capacity from the Pike County complex, with the first 800 megawatts expected to come online by 2028. A single gigawatt is enough to power up to 750,000 US homes at any given time.

OpenAI said it will only begin paying as capacity becomes available for lease. Nvidia said it will provide support for “defined portions of lease and power payments,” aiding a project that will lead to a large deployment of its AI chips.

Separately, Nvidia has agreed to invest $1.5 billion in SB Energy Corp., the SoftBank Group Corp.-backed developer that will build, own and operate the facility.

The Ohio data center complex as envisioned would be among the biggest in the world — a symbol of the enormous demand for computing to propel AI development. It’s also a centerpiece project for SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son and the Trump administration, which has hailed the investment as a major win.

Read more: SoftBank’s Son Says Ohio Data Center to Be $500 Billion Project

Nvidia previously discussed providing a guarantee of as much as $250 billion to OpenAI for the data center lease, Bloomberg News has reported.

Nvidia has provided a financial backstop to other companies trying to rapidly build out AI hardware, notably CoreWeave Inc., and it has invested directly in OpenAI and AI peer Anthropic PBC. But the latest loan guarantee is the largest arrangement of its type for the chipmaker.

There have been some concerns about debt that doesn’t show up on their balance sheets, as well as circular deals that involve Nvidia financing other companies, which then pay for its chips.

Nvidia also said the Ohio deal with OpenAI is not an example of circular financing. “OpenAI will pay the lease,” Nvidia said.