OpenAI signs 20-year lease for 8-gigawatt Ohio data center as Nvidia backs up to $105 billion
Reporting says OpenAI took a two-decade lease on an eight-gigawatt Ohio campus tied to SB Energy, with Nvidia guaranteeing up to $105 billion on residual facility value, investing $1.5 billion in the developer per Bloomberg filings via Techmeme, and serving as exclusive silicon supplier. TechCrunch describes Ports-Pike scaling toward eight gigawatts alongside a 9.2-gigawatt natural gas plant; the New York Times cites a potential $500 billion total price. CNBC and Techmeme link Nvidia's AI infrastructure financing to July SEC guidance easing data center securitization and shifting sponsor liabilities. The deal shows frontier labs locking vendor-financed megasite capacity instead of spot procurement, raising barriers for operators without comparable vendor ties, though reporting has not confirmed final budgets, phased timelines, or full eight-gigawatt buildout.
OpenAI signs 20-year lease for 8-gigawatt Ohio data center as Nvidia backs up to $105 billion
OpenAI has signed a 20-year lease for an 8-gigawatt data center in Ohio. Nvidia is guaranteeing up to $105 billion for the residual value of the facilities and becomes the exclusive chip supplier.
Key takeaway
Frontier AI labs are securing multi-decade compute through vendor-financed megasites where chipmakers become exclusive suppliers and capital partners, not just hardware vendors.
What happened
OpenAI signed a 20-year lease for an 8-gigawatt data center in Ohio, according to The Decoder and Axios. Nvidia is guaranteeing up to $105 billion for the residual value of the facilities and becomes the exclusive chip supplier for the project.
Bloomberg filing coverage cited by Techmeme says Nvidia agreed to spend up to $105 billion supporting SB Energy's Ohio campus that OpenAI will lease, plus a $1.5 billion investment in SB Energy. The New York Times reports the campus could cost as much as $500 billion.
Evidence
OpenAI signed a 20-year lease for an 8-gigawatt Ohio data center with Nvidia backing up to $105 billion in residual value guarantees.
The Decoder · attributed
OpenAI has signed a 20-year lease for an 8-gigawatt data center in Ohio. Nvidia is guaranteeing up to $105 billion for the residual value of the facilities and becomes the exclusive chip supplier.
The Ohio data center could cost as much as $500 billion and will be leased by OpenAI.
NYTimes Technology · attributed
The data center, one of the world's largest, could cost as much as $500 billion and will be leased by OpenAI.
Nvidia agreed to spend up to $105 billion supporting SB Energy's Ohio campus and invest $1.5 billion in SB Energy.
Techmeme · attributed
Nvidia Corp. has agreed to spend as much as $105B to support SB Energy's new Ohio data center campus OpenAI is set to lease; Nvidia agrees to invest $1.5B in SB Energy
Nvidia is investing $1.5 billion in SB Energy to guarantee its chips power an OpenAI data center at Ports-Pike.
TechCrunch AI · attributed
Nvidia is investing $1.5 billion in SB Energy, a SoftBank-linked data center developer, to become the sole compute supplier for OpenAI's Ports-Pike facility.
Nvidia's AI infrastructure financing follows SEC July guidance easing data center securitization restrictions.
Techmeme · attributed
Nvidia's $500B funding package announcement for AI infrastructure follows SEC's July guidance that confirmed looser restrictions for data center securitizations
Nvidia will provide up to a $105 billion guarantee for OpenAI's Ohio data center.
Reuters AI · attributed
Nvidia has agreed to provide a financial guarantee of up to $105 billion to support the construction of OpenAI's massive data center in Ohio.
Nvidia's financing initiative leverages SEC guidance that exempts sponsors from certain data center investment liabilities.
CNBC AI · attributed
Nvidia has launched a financing initiative that leverages new SEC guidance to exempt sponsors from certain liabilities regarding data center investments.
OpenAI announced a massive Ohio data center with a guaranteed supply of Nvidia hardware.
Axios AI · attributed
OpenAI has announced a massive new data center in Ohio, featuring a guaranteed supply of Nvidia hardware.
Why it matters
Independent operators and cloud providers face a financing landscape where Nvidia can underwrite megasite construction and lock in exclusive silicon supply, raising barriers for labs without comparable long-term vendor partnerships.
Limits and uncertainties
The New York Times cites a potential $500 billion total cost, but reporting does not confirm final construction budgets, phased timelines, or how much of the 8 GW capacity will be built.
Several excerpts in the packet are truncated and filings referenced by Techmeme and Bloomberg are not reproduced in full, leaving incomplete detail on guarantee terms and liability structures.
Practical implications
Labs planning frontier training should assume top-tier GPU capacity may require multi-decade leases and exclusive vendor commitments rather than spot cloud procurement.
Data center developers and private equity sponsors may gain access to Nvidia-structured financing where SEC guidance reduces sponsor liability, altering how AI campuses are capitalized.
What to watch
Full SEC and corporate filings detailing Nvidia's $105 billion guarantee terms, SB Energy investment structure, and sponsor liability allocations.
Ohio regulatory approvals, grid interconnection plans, and construction milestones for the Ports-Pike campus and associated 9.2 GW natural gas power plant described by TechCrunch.
