Nvidia backs OpenAl for its Ohio datacenter to help it get mega compute capacity
OpenAI has secured a 20-year lease for a massive data center in Ohio, with Nvidia providing financial backing and serving as the exclusive AI compute supplier. Nvidia has agreed to guarantee up to $105 billion in potential liabilities, signaling a major bet on the long-term infrastructure needs of AI.
Why it matters
This deal highlights the massive capital expenditure and corporate risk-sharing required to build the physical infrastructure necessary for large-scale AI development.
OpenAI has signed a 20-year lease for roughly 8 gigawatts of computing capacity in Pike County, Ohio, and Nvidia has agreed to stand behind it. The chipmaker will be the exclusive supplier of AI compute at SB Energy's PORTS-Pike Technology Campus, invest $1.5 billion in the SoftBank-backed developer, and provide credit support for the land, power and shell of the initial 4.25 IT-gigawatt phase. SB Energy will build, own and operate the site. OpenAI is only the tenant.The structure is the interesting part. Nvidia is backstopping the value of the finished data centre rather than OpenAI's rent, according to The Wall Street Journal. If OpenAI walked away, SB Energy would first look for another customer at the same price, then try to sell the campus. Only after that would Nvidia cover the difference—up to $105 billion once the first phase is complete.
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