Nvidia is reportedly considering a roughly $250 billion guarantee tied to OpenAI’s prospective lease of a data center campus in southern Ohio. The backing could help developer SB Energy raise construction financing by placing Nvidia’s credit behind obligations connected to the project.
No final agreement has been announced, and the companies have not disclosed the proposed guarantee’s terms. The talks would deepen Nvidia’s financial ties to one of its largest AI customers while helping OpenAI secure more computing capacity.
The Wall Street Journal reported the negotiations on July 26, citing people familiar with the matter. Reuters later said it could not independently verify the report. The discussions may not produce a final transaction.
How the proposed backstop would work
The reported $250 billion would not be an upfront investment in the Ohio campus. Nvidia would instead provide credit support for obligations tied to OpenAI’s lease and the project’s construction financing.
The guarantee’s duration, payment triggers, compensation, and maximum exposure have not been disclosed. Those terms will determine how much risk Nvidia would carry if a covered party failed to meet its obligations.
The Journal also reported separate discussions involving as much as $350 billion in computing equipment. That amount should not be combined with the guarantee and described as a $600 billion investment. A guarantee creates contingent exposure; equipment financing creates a separate obligation.
The structure may heighten concerns about circular financing. Nvidia has already expanded beyond chip sales into AI investments involving model developers, data center operators, and component suppliers. Supporting the Ohio project would further connect Nvidia’s capital, customer financing, and hardware demand.
Ohio project adds scale — and execution risk
SB Energy, a SoftBank Group company, plans to build the campus on leased federal land at the former Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Pike County. A Department of Energy announcement calls for up to 10 gigawatts of data center capacity backed by 10 gigawatts of new generation, including at least 9.2 gigawatts of natural-gas power.
That 10-gigawatt figure is a long-term target, not available capacity. An initial phase could provide about 800 megawatts in 2028, according to the Journal. Later phases would depend on financing, construction, transmission, power generation, cooling, and equipment procurement.
OpenAI and SoftBank Group invested $500 million each in SB Energy on January 9, 2026. OpenAI also designated SB Energy as one of its preferred Stargate development partners without granting exclusivity.
OpenAI is separately pursuing a 3.2-gigawatt Georgia data center that it plans to lead in designing and developing. The Ohio project would use a lease model, giving OpenAI direct access to capacity without ownership of the campus.
Nvidia’s involvement could improve its chances of supplying the site, although no equipment commitment has been announced. The talks follow a September 2025 partnership under which Nvidia said it could invest progressively as OpenAI deployed at least 10 gigawatts of Nvidia systems.
Competition is also widening as AMD’s Helios rack-scale AI platform attracts planned deployments from Microsoft, OpenAI, Meta, Oracle, and other large infrastructure buyers.
Signed lease terms, Nvidia’s maximum exposure, and a phased construction schedule will show whether the Ohio project represents credible future capacity or another AI infrastructure plan whose financing and power requirements remain unresolved.
Read more: Meta’s Louisiana AI data center could cost more than $250 billion, showing how chips, energy infrastructure, and outside financing can push full-buildout costs beyond a project’s initial construction budget.