Nvidia backs $105bn financing for OpenAI's Ohio data centre

What happened: An SEC filing on 17 August 2026 showed Nvidia will provide up to $105 billion in financing support for a new OpenAI data centre at the PORTS-Pike Technology Campus in Pike County, Ohio, according to CNBC.

The numbers: The project starts at 4.25 gigawatts, with an option for another 3.75 GW. The first 800 megawatts are due online in 2028.

The details: SB Energy, a SoftBank subsidiary in which OpenAI holds a stake and where Sam Altman was an early investor, will build and run the site, then lease it to OpenAI for 20 years. Nvidia also supplies the compute.

The catch: Nvidia's commitment is mostly guarantees, not cash, capped at $105 billion and tied to the residual value of the leased infrastructure. If SB Energy defaults, Nvidia covers the gap between a guaranteed value and what's recovered. OpenAI has agreed to repay Nvidia for anything it pays out.

The context: SB Energy and SoftBank will also build power for 10 GW and invest at least $4.2 billion in the regional grid. Nvidia is putting $1.5 billion into SB Energy directly. OpenAI says the project will bring 35,000 construction jobs through 2032 and 2,500 long-term jobs.

Who's affected: Earlier reports had Nvidia weighing a backstop of up to $250 billion for 10 GW, later cut to under $120 billion before settling at $105 billion.

The rivals: A week earlier, Nvidia signed deals with Apollo, BlackRock, Blackstone, Brookfield, Goldman Sachs and KKR to raise more than $500 billion in outside capital for AI infrastructure, per Data Center Knowledge.

In their words: Jensen Huang, Nvidia's chief executive, said: "We are securing long-lived infrastructure for NVIDIA compute so OpenAI can deploy the most productive AI factories."

Why it matters: Critics call the arrangement circular financing, with Nvidia backing the same customer it sells chips to. Huang rejects that characterisation.

What's next: Construction proceeds toward the 2028 target for the first 800 MW, with the larger 4.25 GW buildout to follow.