Nvidia in Talks for $250bn Guarantee to Back OpenAI’s Ohio Data Center, Total Could Top $500bn
Nvidia is reportedly in discussions to provide a $250 billion financial guarantee that would let OpenAI lease a 10-gigawatt data centre campus under construction in southern Ohio, with total project costs expected to exceed $500 billion.
The guarantee structure
Nvidia is negotiating a roughly $250 billion financing guarantee for OpenAI, according to a Wall Street Journal report that cited people familiar with the matter. The guarantee would not be direct cash but a credit wrapper: Nvidia would promise to cover obligations if OpenAI or the project falls short, lowering the risk for lenders and allowing OpenAI to borrow on better terms. The $250 billion would cover the data centre lease and construction debt, excluding the semiconductor hardware. Separately, the two companies are discussing financing for OpenAI chip purchases worth up to $350 billion.
- Lease & construction guarantee
- 250 USD bn
- Chip financing (in talks)
- 350 USD bn
The Ohio campus and its timeline
The data centre is a 10-gigawatt project developed by SB Energy, SoftBank’s energy subsidiary, in southern Ohio. The first phase is scheduled to come online in 2028, delivering about 800 megawatts of computing power. Electricity for the site is controlled by the U.S. government and funded in part by Japan’s $33 billion investment in a natural gas plant under a recent trade agreement. U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has been involved in deciding which firms get access to that power supply.
- Nvidia commits up to $100 billion to OpenAI for AI infrastructure deployment.
- WSJ reports $250 billion guarantee talks for the Ohio data centre.
- First phase of the Ohio campus expected to come online with 800 MW.
Strategic stakes for OpenAI and Nvidia
For OpenAI, a deal would mark a first step toward owning its own infrastructure, reducing reliance on cloud providers such as Microsoft, Amazon and Oracle. For Nvidia, standing behind the debt locks in years of demand for its industry-leading AI processors. The arrangement extends a relationship the two companies formalised in September 2025, when Nvidia said it would invest up to $100 billion in OpenAI as part of a broader AI infrastructure partnership.
Competition for the site
OpenAI has been in advanced talks for several weeks to lease the campus and is considered the front-runner. Anthropic, Microsoft and Google have also spoken with Lutnick in recent weeks about the project, the Journal reported. Neither Nvidia, OpenAI nor the Commerce Department has commented on the status of the negotiations.
Financing context
OpenAI, as a private company without investment-grade credit, cannot raise debt on that scale without a strong backstop. Nvidia’s guarantee would provide that. The broader AI infrastructure build-out continues to absorb staggering capital, with tech giants increasingly tapping debt and equity markets to fund it. The total cost of the Ohio project, including advanced chips inside the facility, would exceed $500 billion.
