Nvidia is backing up to $105 billion in credit and computing support for a massive OpenAI project in Ohio, according to a securities filing made public Monday. The deal covers the hardware that powers AI, and it is another sign of how much money is flowing into the AI buildout.
Nvidia, best known for making AI chips, is acting like a financial backer, not just a parts supplier.
The facility will start with 4.25 gigawatts of computing capacity and can expand by another 3.75 gigawatts later. The first phase is expected to come online starting in 2028. SB Energy will construct and run the data center at the Pike Tech Center in Ohio.
OpenAI has agreed to lease the site for two decades. SB Energy and SoftBank are building power generation for the site, including 10 gigawatts of total energy support and at least $4.2 billion in regional grid upgrades. OpenAI says the buildout will support 35,000 construction jobs through 2032 and about 2,500 long-term roles once it is running.
CNBC reported that Nvidia had considered backstopping up to $250 billion in debt for a 10-gigawatt data center on the same Ohio campus. The Wall Street Journal said last week that figure was cut to less than $120 billion. The current filing lands at $105 billion.
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This is not just about selling chips. Nvidia is effectively guaranteeing financing so OpenAI can build the massive infrastructure its models need. The arrangement lets OpenAI borrow against the power and compute capacity being created, while Nvidia locks in demand for its GPUs. In exchange, Nvidia ties OpenAI more tightly to its own hardware ecosystem.
Such arrangements have drawn investor scrutiny because one company can appear to be financing another company's purchases. Nvidia records more sales when it helps its own customers pay for Nvidia products. The concern is not new, but this scale makes it harder to ignore.
This deal is one more example of how the chipmaker has been moving beyond just selling chips. Last week, Nvidia teamed up with six large asset managers to create financing platforms aimed at putting $500 billion of outside money to work in data centers.
Jensen Huang, Nvidia's chief executive, said the company is locking in long-lived infrastructure so OpenAI can keep upgrading its AI factories with newer chips. Sam Altman's OpenAI sees this project as a way to secure the computing power its systems depend on. OpenAI President Greg Brockman said on CNBC, "Compute is becoming the scarce resource of the AI era."
The arrangement also involves ties that are easy to notice. OpenAI owns a piece of SB Energy, and Altman was an early investor in the company. So Nvidia is effectively backing a project where the customer has a financial stake in the builder. That type of setup is not unusual in this corner of tech, but it does mean a lot of parts are moving within one circle.
These large financing arrangements have grown as AI projects require billions in upfront capital before any revenue is generated. Nvidia's willingness to help fund the infrastructure both secures future chip orders and exposes it to more risk if the buildout slows.
For everyday investors, the important thread is how deep these companies are weaving together. Nvidia is not just selling chips anymore. It is helping finance the buildings that will use them, which keeps its customers coming back but also risks tying its fortunes more closely to one another.
Here is how to frame it: bigger AI data centers mean more demand for Nvidia's chips, which should help its revenue. But the circular setup - Nvidia backstopping loans that buy Nvidia chips - is the kind of thing investors should watch closely. If AI demand slows, those commitments could get messy.
For investors, the key number is still the size of the prize. Compute is becoming the resource that factories, hospitals, and everyday apps quietly rely on, and that demand is not shrinking anytime soon. The companies building the physical backbone are seeing real money flow measured in billions, not millions. Big numbers make for big headlines, but big headlines do not always mean smooth sailing.
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