Nvidia in talks to provide $250bn financing guarantee for OpenAI data center

Nvidia has entered advanced talks to provide a massive financial backstop for artificial intelligence infrastructure, according to The News. The chipmaker is discussing a financing guarantee worth roughly $250 billion to support OpenAI. This proposed backing aims to help lease a colossal 10-gigawatt data center campus in southern Ohio.

The monumental undertaking highlights how major semiconductor manufacturers are stepping directly into the role of financial architects, moving far beyond simply supplying hardware to fund unprecedented infrastructure requirements.

Media additions

The proposed agreement would back the lease and debt financing for the site in Pike County, according to Fortune India. Crucially, the arrangement would not involve Nvidia investing $250 billion in direct cash. Instead, the chipmaker would provide a financial guarantee to reassure lenders backing the project. This structure helps OpenAI secure financing on more favorable terms despite lacking an investment-grade credit rating, as reported by Free Press Journal.

Total project costs, including infrastructure and hardware, are projected to reach upwards of $500 billion. The campus is being developed by SB Energy, an energy subsidiary of SoftBank Group. Beyond the data center lease guarantee, Nvidia is separately discussing financing for up to $350 billion worth of advanced chips that would eventually equip the facility.

For OpenAI, the arrangement represents a significant step toward building and controlling its own infrastructure rather than relying entirely on established cloud providers like Microsoft, Amazon, and Oracle. For Nvidia, the move secures long-term, massive demand for its specialized processors used to train and run advanced frontier models. As AI labs race toward public offerings and scale up projections, OpenAI is pushing expected compute spending toward $750 billion through 2030.

The Ohio campus is planned with a total capacity of 10 gigawatts, an amount of power equivalent to serving several million homes. The first phase of the facility is expected to deliver around 800 megawatts by 2028. At full scale, the site will support hundreds of thousands of advanced processors requiring extensive power infrastructure, specialized cooling systems, and vast server clusters.

Securing power for the site involves complex governmental oversight. U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has been closely involved in power distribution discussions. Other tech giants including Google, Microsoft, and Anthropic have also vied for energy access and spoken to Lutnick in recent weeks. OpenAI is currently the leading contender to lease the campus, though Google, Microsoft, and Anthropic have all expressed interest.

Power for the project is tied to U.S. Government oversight and a separate funding agreement backed by Japan, linked to Tokyo's commitment to invest $33 billion in a natural gas plant. This international coordination follows high-level meetings in San Francisco involving global technology leaders and South Korean business groups. During those discussions, senior officials noted that South Korean conglomerates and global tech firms agreed to explore collaboration projects valued at roughly $950 billion, including a long-term agreement for SK Group to supply around $750 billion in high-performance semiconductors to global firms like Nvidia. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang both participated in those talks.

Project Overview and Key Figures

• Project Location: Pike County, southern Ohio
• Developer: SB Energy (SoftBank Group subsidiary)
• Target Capacity: 10 gigawatts total
• Phase One Target: Approximately 800 megawatts by 2028
• Estimated Total Cost: Exceeds $500 billion
• Nvidia Guarantee: Roughly $250 billion for data center lease and debt financing
• Additional Chip Financing: Up to $350 billion discussed separately

Negotiations remain ongoing, and formal terms have yet to be finalized. Nvidia, OpenAI, and the U.S. Commerce Department did not immediately respond to media requests for comment regarding the reports.