Nvidia in talks to guarantee $250 billion in financing for OpenAI's mega data center hub, potentially backing construction of world-scale compute campus.
Nvidia is considering providing up to US$250 billion in backing for OpenAI's data centre hub development. The arrangement would help OpenAI lease a 10-gigawatt data centre hub that SoftBank Group is developing in Ohio, envisioned as one of the world's largest computing facilities. The project may cost approximately US$500 billion, according to SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son. Nvidia's guarantee would enable SoftBank to borrow additional capital to finance the construction.
OpenAI has been in talks to lease capacity at the complex for several weeks. Once completed, the data centre would rank among the largest in the world, serving as a tangible expression of the extraordinary computing demand required to advance artificial intelligence development. The project represents a centrepiece initiative for both SoftBank and the Trump administration, which has promoted the investment as a significant achievement.
SoftBank is among major technology firms like Alphabet that are channelling trillions of dollars into data centre construction and AI development over the coming years. The deal illustrates the circular dynamics of increasingly large transactions in the AI industry, where major tech firms finance the infrastructure projects that ultimately generate substantial business for them.
Investors have recently grown more cautious about elevated technology stock valuations, concerned that data centre capacity under construction may outpace future AI service demand.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has directed billions of dollars across companies throughout the AI supply chain, aiming to accelerate adoption of Nvidia's products and remove obstacles that could impede artificial intelligence deployment. Beyond the SoftBank arrangement, Nvidia is separately investing US$1 billion in South Korean company Naver Corp to finance an AI data centre under construction, and is partnering with SK Group to build more than 2 gigawatts of AI data centres on the Korean Peninsula.
For Nvidia, the deepened relationship with SK improves access to high-bandwidth memory chips. SK Hynix and rival Samsung Electronics are the two largest suppliers of these critical components, which remain in short supply due to the global expansion of AI data centre infrastructure.
Huang has contended that investments in companies including Anthropic and OpenAI will benefit not only Nvidia but also deliver investment returns. Critics, however, have raised concerns that such investments may artificially inflate demand for AI infrastructure.