Nvidia has committed a $105 billion guarantee to backstop OpenAI's lease on a massive Ohio data centre being built by SoftBank's SB Energy, marking one of the chipmaker's largest infrastructure financing bets to date.
The structure of the guarantee
The guarantee covers a slice of lease and power payments plus a floor on the site's residual value, not the full project cost or all OpenAI obligations. If OpenAI defaults, Nvidia pays the difference between that guaranteed minimum and whatever the owner recovers by re-leasing or selling. The financing mix remains undefined, equity first, likely including proceeds from a potential SB Energy listing and direct SoftBank capital, followed by project finance loans and possibly public bonds.
Circular financing questions
The arrangement extends a pattern where Nvidia funds the infrastructure that buys its chips. Last week the company unveiled financing platforms with BlackRock and five other institutions targeting more than $500 billion in third-party capital for AI data centres. Jensen Huang rejected the circular label, saying Nvidia is deploying "its scale and long-term visibility" to secure multi-generation sites for its compute. Danni Hewson at AJ Bell said investors are right to worry about the loop, though the player pool is narrow and some circularity was inevitable.
The Ohio site specifics
The Pike County campus will run up to 8 gigawatts total, with the first 800 megawatts slated for 2028 under a 20-year lease. Nvidia will be the exclusive chip supplier. Huang estimated the initial 4.25-gigawatt phase could generate $200 billion in Nvidia revenue, and a broader 16-gigawatt commitment from OpenAI, including a 3.75-gigawatt Ohio expansion, could yield $600 billion by 2030. One gigawatt powers roughly 750,000 US homes.
Power and jobs
SoftBank and SB Energy plan at least 10 gigawatts of new generation and $4.2 billion in grid upgrades through AEP Ohio. Construction employment is projected at 35,000 through 2032, with 2,500 permanent operating roles. Land and grid constraints remain the sector's primary bottleneck as communities push back on electricity costs and water use.