$500 Billion, 20-Year Lease: OpenAI in Talks for 10GW Ohio Data Center, Nvidia Set to Act as Credit 'Backstop'
OpenAI is in advanced negotiations with SB Energy, a SoftBank subsidiary, to lease a massive 10-gigawatt AI data center campus planned for a former uranium enrichment site in Pike County, Ohio. The proposed 20-year lease could involve total rental payments amounting to tens of billions of dollars, with the first 800-megawatt phase slated for 2028.
A key structural innovation reported is that Nvidia is in discussions to act as a credit guarantor for OpenAI's lease payments and SB Energy's project financing. This marks a significant expansion of a financing model where major tech firms back AI startups' infrastructure commitments, following similar reported arrangements between Google and Anthropic.
The project is part of a larger U.S.-Japan investment framework and involves SB Energy building 9.2 GW of gas-fired power generation. The total cost for the required IT hardware, primarily Nvidia chips, is estimated at around $350 billion, for which OpenAI is seeking separate financing. This deal represents a shift in OpenAI's strategy towards large-scale bilateral agreements for its own compute infrastructure, moving away from earlier joint venture plans like the shelved "Stargate" project.
This massive infrastructure commitment coincides with OpenAI's confidential IPO filing. Analysts expect its long-term cloud and compute obligations, totaling over $665 billion, to be a major focus for SEC scrutiny and investor due diligence. SB Energy has also announced its own IPO plans, creating a complex web of financial interdependencies between OpenAI, its infrastructure partner, and its key chip supplier.
marsbit06/10 03:36
