Nvidia in Talks to Back $250 Billion OpenAI Data Center in Ohio

Nvidia is in discussions to provide a $250 billion financial guarantee for OpenAI's planned data center campus in southern Ohio, according to reports from late July 2026.

The backstop would cover leasing and construction costs for the facility, which is being developed by SB Energy, a subsidiary of SoftBank. OpenAI currently lacks an investment-grade credit rating due to its lack of profitability, making Nvidia's guarantee essential for securing financing from lenders.

The Ohio site is located on a decommissioned uranium-enrichment facility roughly 50 miles south of Columbus. It is designed to reach 10 gigawatts of total capacity, with the first phase of approximately 800 megawatts scheduled for completion in 2028.

Nvidia is also in separate negotiations to potentially finance OpenAI's purchase of AI chips, which could amount to an additional $350 billion. Together, the two deals would represent one of the largest private infrastructure commitments in U.S. history.

The project would mark a significant shift for OpenAI, which has historically relied on cloud providers including Microsoft, Amazon, and Oracle for computing infrastructure. Direct ownership of data center capacity would reduce that dependence.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is managing access to the government-controlled power supply at the site. Google, Microsoft, and Anthropic have also expressed interest in the location.

Japan is investing $33 billion in a natural gas power project on the federal land to support the facility, a move tied to broader U.S.-Japan trade negotiations.

Terms have not been finalized, and both companies declined to comment on the specifics of the discussions.