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Nvidia has agreed to provide a guarantee of up to $105 billion to help OpenAI lease a large data center in Ohio being developed by SoftBank-owned SB Energy, one of the chipmaker's largest infrastructure financing commitments to date, the company said Monday.
Nvidia said it will also invest $1.5 billion in SB Energy, months after OpenAI and SoftBank made a combined $1 billion investment to expand data center infrastructure. The deal is the latest instance of Nvidia financing the infrastructure built around its own chips, a strategy that helps drive demand for its products but has also raised questions about circular funding flows between the chipmaker and its customers.
Scrutiny of such arrangements deepened last week after Nvidia partnered with six major financial institutions, including BlackRock, to launch financing platforms targeting more than $500 billion in third-party funding for AI infrastructure.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said the new deal is not circular financing, framing it instead as the company using its scale and market position to support long-term infrastructure needs. "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," Huang said.
Nvidia will serve as the exclusive chip provider for the facility, located in Pike County, Ohio, which is expected to reach a total capacity of up to 8 gigawatts. The first 800 megawatts are expected to come online in 2028, and OpenAI is leasing the site for 20 years, according to the company.
The financing structure has not yet been finalized and will include an equity component, according to people with knowledge of the matter, who said the equity portion may draw on capital raised through a potential SB Energy IPO and direct investment from SoftBank. Once the total equity amount is set, a debt portion will follow, likely including project finance loans and potentially public debt such as bonds, the people said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss private negotiations.
Nvidia said it will also invest $1.5 billion in SB Energy, months after OpenAI and SoftBank made a combined $1 billion investment to expand data center infrastructure. The deal is the latest instance of Nvidia financing the infrastructure built around its own chips, a strategy that helps drive demand for its products but has also raised questions about circular funding flows between the chipmaker and its customers.
Scrutiny of such arrangements deepened last week after Nvidia partnered with six major financial institutions, including BlackRock, to launch financing platforms targeting more than $500 billion in third-party funding for AI infrastructure.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said the new deal is not circular financing, framing it instead as the company using its scale and market position to support long-term infrastructure needs. "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," Huang said.
Nvidia will serve as the exclusive chip provider for the facility, located in Pike County, Ohio, which is expected to reach a total capacity of up to 8 gigawatts. The first 800 megawatts are expected to come online in 2028, and OpenAI is leasing the site for 20 years, according to the company.
The financing structure has not yet been finalized and will include an equity component, according to people with knowledge of the matter, who said the equity portion may draw on capital raised through a potential SB Energy IPO and direct investment from SoftBank. Once the total equity amount is set, a debt portion will follow, likely including project finance loans and potentially public debt such as bonds, the people said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss private negotiations.
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