Nvidia in Talks to Provide $250 Billion Guarantee for OpenAI Data Center Project

TradingKey - On July 26, Eastern Time, according to a Wall Street Journal report, Nvidia ( NVDA) is in talks with OpenAI over a financing guarantee of approximately $250 billion to support the latter's massive data center project in southern Ohio. If finalized, this guarantee would represent the largest cross-corporate credit endorsement within the AI industry chain to date.

People familiar with the matter revealed that the planned installed capacity for the data center campus is 10 gigawatts, developed by SoftBank's energy subsidiary, SB Energy. SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son previously stated that the total cost of the entire project could reach approximately $500 billion.

The report noted that OpenAI is not yet profitable and lacks an investment credit rating, making it highly difficult to secure financing of this scale on its own. Nvidia's endorsement essentially acts as credit enhancement, enabling the developer, SoftBank, to raise debt capital at a lower cost.

This guarantee covers financing for the leasing and construction of the data center, excluding the Nvidia chips housed within the campus. In addition, Nvidia is separately negotiating a chip procurement financing package of approximately $350 billion.

Reportedly, the project is located in Pike County, Ohio, on a site that formerly housed a Cold War-era uranium enrichment plant, which has been idle since its shutdown in 2001. In March of this year, the U.S. Department of Energy and the Department of Commerce announced a public-private partnership with SoftBank and local utility AEP Ohio to redevelop the site.

According to previously disclosed information, at least 9.2 gigawatts of the project's electricity will come from natural gas power generation, funded self-sufficiently by SB Energy, with an additional $4.2 billion invested to upgrade AEP Ohio's transmission network. The first phase of the project is expected to be completed in 2028, providing about 800 megawatts of power, while the full completion of the entire campus will extend into the mid-to-late 2030s.

The project is a key component under the framework of the U.S.-Japan trade agreement, in which Japan committed to investing $550 billion in the U.S., with $33 billion directly allocated to this power generation project.

OpenAI has been in deep negotiations regarding the site lease for several weeks and is one of the core interested parties. Meanwhile, Anthropic, Microsoft ( MSFT) and Google ( GOOGL) have also recently made contact with Lutnick regarding the project.

Currently, negotiations among all parties are still ongoing, terms have not yet been finalized, and the deal remains subject to change. If ultimately reached, Nvidia will be not only a chip supplier but also a core financial pillar in OpenAI's infrastructure expansion.