Nvidia is slashing its financial backstop for OpenAI's Ohio data center to under $120 billion

Nvidia has committed to investing US$1.5 billion in SB Energy, a company backed by SoftBank, and is securing up to 8 gigawatts of AI computing capacity at a facility being developed by the data center company for OpenAI. The partnership highlights the increasing trend of tech giants financing AI infrastructure, which directly fuels demand for Nvidia's chips.

This move comes as more leading tech companies are joining forces to secure the necessary power, compute, and data center resources for their growing AI models. Nvidia has already set aside land and secured power at Ohio’s PORTS-Pike Technology Campus for an AI data center that will initially utilize 4.25 GW of Nvidia's graphics processors and networking equipment.

The collaboration between SB Energy, SoftBank, and OpenAI involves a substantial US$4.2 billion investment in Ohio's power grid to accommodate future AI data centers. SoftBank-backed SB Energy, established in 2019, is dedicated to developing large-scale power and data center infrastructure projects, with plans to construct at least 10 GW of new power generation capacity.