Nvidia scales back funding guarantee

Chipmaker expected to provide less than $120b support for OpenAI data centre

MEXICO CITY:

Nvidia has revised its plans to support a proposed OpenAI data centre project in Ohio and is now expected to initially guarantee less than $120 billion, down from the $250 billion previously discussed, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.

The Journal said Nvidia and OpenAI are nearing an agreement, with the chipmaker expected to provide a financial backstop only for the first phase of the project. A deal could be signed as early as this weekend, according to the report.

The change was made after investors raised concerns about Nvidia's risk exposure tied to large financing commitments, the newspaper said.

This came after Nvidia on Monday partnered with six major financial institutions to launch compute financing platforms aimed at raising over $500 billion in third-party capital for AI infrastructure.

OpenAI is still discussing a binding lease for the full 10-gigawatt project in Ohio, WSJ said. The site is being developed by SB Energy, a subsidiary of SoftBank, and would be the largest data centre project announced to date if completed.

Nvidia did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside regular business hours. OpenAI declined to comment.

The project would help OpenAI move towards owning AI infrastructure, although its ability to fund large-scale commitments remains under scrutiny because the company is unprofitable despite a valuation of $852 billion.