Nvidia in Talks to Provide $250 Billion Guarantee for OpenAI Data Center Project

Chipmaker Nvidia is in discussions to provide roughly $250 billion in financial guarantees to back OpenAI’s involvement in a massive new data center project, according to a report published Sunday by The Wall Street Journal.

The proposed backstop would allow the ChatGPT maker to lease a planned 10-gigawatt data center campus being developed by SoftBank’s energy subsidiary in southern Ohio. In total, the ambitious facility is expected to cost more than $500 billion, a figure that includes the cost of the advanced Nvidia processors needed to power it.

If finalized, Nvidia’s $250 billion guarantee would cover lease obligations and construction debt financing rather than direct hardware sales. By leveraging Nvidia’s corporate balance sheet, the arrangement aims to reassure conservative lenders and secure favorable borrowing terms for OpenAI, which currently lacks an investment-grade credit rating.

In parallel, Nvidia is reportedly exploring a separate financing structure to help fund OpenAI’s chip purchases, which could total up to $350 billion.

The deal carries immense strategic importance for both AI titans. For OpenAI, securing dedicated capacity in Ohio represents a critical move toward controlling its own computing infrastructure rather than relying entirely on cloud services rented from partners like Microsoft, Amazon, and Oracle. For Nvidia, the backing locks in multi-year demand for its market-leading graphics processing units (GPUs).

Development on the Ohio facility is scheduled to roll out in phases, with the initial phase targeted for completion in 2028 at a power capacity of roughly 800 megawatts. Power allocation for the site involves coordination with the U.S. government under a broader trade arrangement with Japan, which includes a $33 billion investment in natural gas infrastructure. U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is overseeing access decisions for the hub, which has also drawn interest from rivals including Anthropic, Google, and Microsoft.

The negotiations underscore a dramatic shift across the tech sector, where companies are increasingly using complex debt structures and financial guarantees to fund unprecedented AI infrastructure demands, with global capital expenditures expected to surpass $700 billion this year.