SB Energy Grants OpenAI $5.5B in Warrants for Data Center Lease

SB Energy has granted OpenAI stock warrants now valued at approximately $5.5 billion to secure the AI firm as an anchor tenant for its planned data center campus in Ohio [1]. The arrangement, which ties the developer’s infrastructure buildout directly to its primary customer’s compute needs, highlights a growing trend of circular financial dependencies in the AI sector [3].

The mechanics of the deal

The warrants were issued in January and were initially valued at $3.6 billion, meaning their value has appreciated by roughly $1.9 billion due to the rising price of the underlying equity [1]. By providing these instruments, SB Energy effectively incentivized OpenAI to sign a 20-year lease for a 10-gigawatt site in Ohio, a facility with power requirements comparable to a mid-sized European country [1]. The project, which is expected to begin operations in 2028, serves as a cornerstone for SB Energy’s upcoming IPO, where the company is targeting between $5 billion and $7 billion in proceeds [1].

This structure creates a tightly woven financial loop between the key players in the AI supply chain. Nvidia has invested $1.5 billion in SB Energy and is providing financial support for the Ohio development, which is designed to host Nvidia compute exclusively [2, 3]. Meanwhile, OpenAI and SoftBank have previously co-invested $500 million into SB Energy, alongside a separate lease agreement for a 1.2-gigawatt facility in Texas [1]. Because OpenAI is expected to hold a single-digit percentage stake in SB Energy following the IPO, the company will transition from a tenant to a shareholder at the same time public investors are invited to value the business [1].

Market implications

The reliance on warrants and strategic investments reflects a broader shift in how AI infrastructure is financed as traditional bank lending for data centers becomes more selective [1]. With major projects like Oracle’s $16.3 billion package requiring specialized backing from firms like PIMCO, developers are increasingly using equity-based incentives to lock in long-term demand [1].

While these deals accelerate the construction of massive data centers, they also obscure where financial risk resides if AI revenue growth fails to keep pace with the capital intensity of these projects [3]. The sustainability of this model remains an open question, as the industry races to build capacity before consumer and enterprise demand is fully proven at scale [3].

What to watch

• IPO Timing: SB Energy is preparing to file materials for its public listing, with a potential market debut as early as next month [2].
• Capacity Milestones: Monitor progress on the 10-gigawatt Ohio campus, which is the primary site for the 20-year OpenAI lease and is slated for initial operations in 2028 [1].
• Debt Backstops: Watch for further developments regarding Nvidia’s reported discussions to guarantee up to $250 billion in data center debt, which would signal a deepening of the current hardware-infrastructure-model financial nexus [1].

The central question for the market is whether these circular financial structures are visionary infrastructure development or a fragile response to the high cost of scaling AI. As the lines between customer, investor, and supplier blur, the true economics of these "AI factories" will depend on whether utilization can justify the massive capital stack currently being assembled [3].