NVIDIA (NVDA.US) once again "injects funds" into OpenAI, planning to provide up to $105 billion in support for the construction of large-scale AI data centers
NVIDIA has agreed to provide up to $105 billion in support to OpenAI for the construction of a large-scale AI data center in Ohio, USA. Once completed, the facility will be leased by OpenAI and will deploy NVIDIA chips, with the first 800 megawatts of computing power expected to be operational by 2028. NVIDIA will also invest $1.5 billion in SB Energy Corp. to assist with the project's construction and operation. This move aims to expand the application of NVIDIA hardware within OpenAI's infrastructure, and the project has received support from the Trump administration, with the potential to become one of the largest data centers in the world
According to Zhitong Finance APP, NVIDIA (NVDA.US) has further deepened its cooperation with OpenAI in the field of artificial intelligence infrastructure. According to the latest financial documents, NVIDIA has agreed to provide up to approximately $105 billion in funding support for a massive data center park in Ohio, USA. Once completed, the park will be leased by OpenAI and will deploy NVIDIA AI chips on a large scale.
OpenAI announced on Monday that the company has signed an agreement to obtain up to approximately 8 gigawatts (GW) of computing power from the data center park located in Pike County, Ohio, with the first 800 megawatts (MW) expected to be operational by 2028. In comparison, 1 gigawatt of power is sufficient to meet the electricity needs of up to approximately 750,000 American households at a given time, highlighting the enormous energy and computing scale of the project.
According to the agreement, OpenAI does not need to bear the full leasing costs immediately but will start making payments only after the corresponding computing capacity is built and available for lease. NVIDIA stated that it will support the "specific portions of leasing and power payments" for the project. As the data center is expected to deploy a large number of NVIDIA AI chips in the future, this arrangement will further expand the application of NVIDIA hardware in OpenAI's computing infrastructure.
In addition to the related support of up to $105 billion, NVIDIA has also agreed to invest $1.5 billion in SB Energy Corp. SB Energy, backed by SoftBank Group, will be responsible for the construction, ownership, and operation of the data center park.
According to current plans, the Ohio project is expected to become one of the largest data center parks in the world upon completion, reflecting the rapidly expanding demand for AI computing power. The project is also one of the major investment initiatives promoted by SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son and has received support from the Trump administration, which views the related investments as an important achievement in expanding AI infrastructure in the United States.
It is worth noting that while the support scale of up to $105 billion is substantial, it is still lower than the potential plans previously discussed in the market. Reports have indicated that NVIDIA had discussed providing guarantees of up to $250 billion for OpenAI's data center leasing.
In recent years, NVIDIA has continuously supported AI companies in expanding infrastructure through investments and guarantees. The company has previously provided financial support to AI cloud service provider CoreWeave (CRWV.US) and has directly invested in OpenAI and Anthropic. The arrangement reached with OpenAI now becomes NVIDIA's largest support agreement of this kind to date.
However, as the scale of AI infrastructure investments continues to expand, the market has begun to pay attention to the off-balance-sheet debts formed by related companies through special arrangements, as well as potential "circular financing" issues, where NVIDIA provides funding support to AI companies, which then use those funds to purchase NVIDIA chips, creating a cycle between funds and revenue.
In response, NVIDIA has made it clear that the Ohio project does not fall under circular financing. The company emphasized that the final data center leasing costs will be borne by OpenAI, stating, "OpenAI will pay the rent." This collaboration further demonstrates that as AI computing power construction enters the hundreds of billions or even trillion-dollar level, NVIDIA's role is extending from a mere AI chip supplier to an infrastructure financing supporter. By providing funding support for large data center projects, NVIDIA can help core clients like OpenAI solve the financing issues required for massive computing power construction, while also potentially further driving the growth of its own AI chip demand.
As of the time of publication, NVIDIA's stock price rose by 0.7%, trading at $226.725
