Nvidia Backs OpenAI Data Center with $105 Billion Guarantee

Nvidia has committed to a financial guarantee of up to $105 billion to support OpenAI’s 20-year lease of a massive 8-gigawatt (GW) data center campus in Ohio [1, 2]. The move cements Nvidia’s role as both a primary chip supplier and a critical financial backer for the infrastructure required to scale next-generation AI models [2, 4].

Infrastructure and Financial Structure

The data center, dubbed "PORTS-Pike," is being developed by SB Energy, a subsidiary of SoftBank Group [1]. Under the agreement, Nvidia will invest $1.5 billion directly into SB Energy, becoming a shareholder alongside SoftBank and OpenAI [1, 2]. The facility is designed to run exclusively on Nvidia’s DSX platform, which integrates GPUs, CPUs, and networking hardware [1].

The $105 billion guarantee functions as a backstop for lease payments; if OpenAI were to vacate the facility and no replacement tenant were found, Nvidia would cover the difference between the guaranteed value and the recovered sale or lease price [1, 4]. While critics have labeled this arrangement "circular finance"—suggesting Nvidia is essentially financing its own customers to buy its chips—CEO Jensen Huang has rejected the characterization [2, 3]. Huang maintains that the guarantee is a standard supply chain management principle, allowing Nvidia to secure long-term production capacity by locking in customer demand [2, 4].

Market Implications

The scale of this project dwarfs previous infrastructure efforts, such as the 2GW expansion in Abilene, Texas, which was canceled earlier this year due to debt-financing limitations [4]. By leveraging its own balance sheet to guarantee the Ohio project, Nvidia is bypassing the traditional reliance on external debt markets that stalled the Texas site [4].

Nvidia’s aggressive infrastructure spending coincides with record-breaking financial performance. In the latest quarter, the company reported $96.2 billion in revenue, a 106% increase over the same period last year, with data center sales accounting for over 90% of that total [5]. Nvidia projects that its total sales to OpenAI could reach $600 billion by 2030, provided the planned infrastructure—which will eventually house 1.5 million GPUs—is fully operational [2, 4].

What to watch

• Phase 1 Launch: The first 800-megawatt (MW) segment of the data center is scheduled to begin operations in 2028 using existing power infrastructure [1, 6].
• SB Energy IPO: SB Energy is reportedly planning an initial public offering as early as next month, targeting a valuation of up to $50 billion [1].
• Project Expansion: Nvidia holds an option to provide further financial guarantees for the remaining 3.75GW of the project’s capacity, which is slated for completion by 2032 [1, 2].

The project highlights a shift where AI leadership is no longer defined solely by chip performance, but by the ability to secure the land, power, and capital required to build "AI factories" at scale [1]. Whether this model of deep financial integration with customers will satisfy investors concerned about "circular" capital flows remains the central question for Nvidia’s long-term growth strategy [3, 4].