Nvidia Backs OpenAI's $105 Billion Data Center Venture

OpenAI has announced plans to lease a massive new data center in the US, backed by a $105 billion financing commitment from Nvidia. The project will be built on the site of a former Cold War-era uranium enrichment plant in Ohio and could eventually reach 8 gigawatts (GW) of capacity, making it the largest single data center for artificial intelligence (AI).

The data center will exclusively run on Nvidia chips, with SoftBank and the data center's owner, SB Energy, investing more than $4 billion into local energy infrastructure. This includes building at least 10 GW of new energy generation to power the data center.

OpenAI has committed $40 million to support local priorities, while Nvidia will invest $1.5 billion in SB Energy. The deal marks a significant shift in scale for the practice of suppliers providing financial backing to AI developers to build infrastructure.