Nvidia Scales Back Financing Support for OpenAI's Ohio Data Center

Nvidia has scaled back its financial guarantee for OpenAI's proposed data center in Ohio. The Wall Street Journal reports that the first-phase backstop could be less than $120 billion, down from a previously discussed $250 billion.

This reduction is significant because it affects how much risk Nvidia takes on and how easily OpenAI can secure funding for its project. A smaller guarantee means lenders may ask for more equity up front or higher interest rates to compensate for the increased default risk.

The proposed data center, which will be developed by SB Energy, a SoftBank subsidiary, is part of OpenAI's push to secure more of its own AI infrastructure. However, funding commitments at this scale are still uncertain, even with OpenAI's huge valuation, since it is not profitable.