Nvidia Fuels OpenAI’s Ohio AI Data Center with Up To $105 Billion in Financing
TOKYO, Japan & PIKE CITY, Ohio – July 16, 2026 – In a significant move that underscores the escalating demand for artificial intelligence infrastructure, graphics processing unit (GPU) giant Nvidia has committed to providing up to $105 billion in financing for a new, colossal AI data center for OpenAI in Ohio. This substantial investment, initially revealed through a securities filing on Monday, marks a critical step in enabling OpenAI to scale its cutting-edge AI models.
The massive credit line will initially support 4.25 gigawatts of computing capacity, with an option to expand by an additional 3.75 gigawatts, bringing the total potential capacity to a staggering 8 gigawatts. Nvidia will be the exclusive provider of the computing power, with the first phases of the facility expected to come online in 2028.
Speaking to members of the media at the company’s "Japan AI Ecosystem" reception in Tokyo, Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, emphasized the strategic importance of this collaboration. "We are securing long-lived infrastructure for NVIDIA compute so OpenAI can deploy the most productive AI factories that can be upgraded repeatedly with each new generation delivering more intelligence and better economics," Huang stated in a press release.
The new data center will be constructed and managed by SB Energy at the PORTS-Pike Technology Campus in Pike City, Ohio, under a 20-year lease agreement with OpenAI. Notably, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman was an early investor in SB Energy, and OpenAI itself holds a stake in the company, highlighting the deep interconnections within this ambitious project.
This announcement follows earlier reports from CNBC that Nvidia and OpenAI were in discussions for a potential backstop of up to $250 billion to fund a 10-gigawatt data center at the Ohio location. While the finalized guarantee is scaled back from the initial discussions, as reported by The Wall Street Journal last week, it still represents a monumental investment in the future of AI.
The Ohio deal is the latest in a series of significant financing maneuvers by Nvidia aimed at supporting the burgeoning AI data center industry. These strategies, which have sparked debate about "circular financing" within the AI sector, saw Nvidia last week partnering with six major asset managers to create financing platforms that will deploy $500 billion in third-party capital for data center projects globally.
Beyond the computing infrastructure, the Ohio project also entails substantial investments in energy. SB Energy and SoftBank, a major investor in SB Energy, will develop power sources capable of supporting 10 gigawatts of energy and commit at least $4.2 billion towards regional grid infrastructure. Nvidia will also invest $1.5 billion directly into SB Energy, further solidifying its commitment to the project’s energy backbone.
OpenAI, in a statement, outlined the significant economic benefits expected from the new data center, projecting the creation of 35,000 new construction jobs through 2032 and 2,500 long-term operational positions.
This new facility will grant OpenAI unprecedented access to the high-end chips and immense computational power that are foundational to the advancement of AI. OpenAI President Greg Brockman, speaking on CNBC’s "Squawk Box" on Monday, succinctly summarized the industry’s sentiment, stating, "Compute is really becoming the new oil, the new limited resource of the AI age." This sentiment underscores the critical role of such data centers in driving the next wave of artificial intelligence innovation.
