- Nvidia reprotedly weighing up $250 billion in financing for OpenAI's giant Ohio AI data center
- Total project costs could surpass $500 billion after infrastructure and hardware investments
- OpenAI seeks greater control over computing infrastructure through dedicated Ohio facilities
Nvidia is reportedly negotiating financing guarantees worth roughly $250 billion for a massive OpenAI data center project.
Reporting from The Wall Street Journal claims the financing would help OpenAI secure a lease for the proposed 10-gigawatt facility in southern Ohio.
The site is being developed by SB Energy, a subsidiary of SoftBank, under a separate infrastructure arrangement.
Financing plan could support one of the world's biggest AI facilities
The guarantee would cover the data center lease and debt financing, though it would exclude the Nvidia chips housed inside the facility.
Nvidia is separately discussing financing arrangements for OpenAI's chip purchases, which could total up to $350 billion.
The combined costs for the entire project, including chips, are expected to exceed $500 billion once construction concludes.
The first phase alone is expected to finish by 2028, delivering around 800 megawatts of the planned 10 gigawatts.
The project's power supply will be controlled by the U.S. government and funded separately through a trade arrangement with Japan. That arrangement ties into Tokyo's pledge to invest $33 billion in a natural gas plant.
US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick reportedly plays a role in deciding which companies gain access to that power.
OpenAI's financial position complicates the infrastructure push
OpenAI is currently valued at $852 billion, ranking among the most valuable private companies globally despite remaining unprofitable.
According to shareholder documents, the company posted a net loss of roughly $21.3 billion in the first quarter of 2026 alone.
Stripping out a non-cash charge tied to revaluing investor warrants leaves an operating loss near $9.3 billion for that quarter.
Internal projections reportedly show OpenAI expects to lose around $14 billion across 2026, with cumulative losses reaching $44 billion by 2028.
That lack of profitability raises questions about how the company intends to fund its numerous multi-billion-dollar infrastructure commitments going forward.
Nvidia's backing would reportedly help reassure lenders that the financing vehicles underpinning the project carry sufficient institutional support.
For OpenAI, securing the deal would mark a shift toward owning infrastructure rather than renting capacity from Microsoft, Amazon and Oracle.
On Nvidia’s part, the deal would help guarantee sustained chip demand well into the coming years.
OpenAI has reportedly held talks for weeks about leasing the Ohio site directly, while Anthropic, Microsoft and Google have also shown interest.
The proposed facility would rank among the largest AI data center developments planned anywhere in the world, but its financing structure combines private investment, government-backed infrastructure and long-term computing demand across multiple funding sources.
At the moment, commercial agreements between the companies involved have not been finalized.
Efosa has been writing about technology for over 7 years, initially driven by curiosity but now fueled by a strong passion for the field. He holds both a Master's and a PhD in sciences, which provided him with a solid foundation in analytical thinking.