TLDR
- Nvidia is in talks to provide ~$250 billion in financing guarantees to help OpenAI lease a 10-gigawatt data center in Ohio
- The project is being developed by SoftBank’s energy subsidiary and is expected to cost over $500 billion in total
- Nvidia is also discussing a separate deal to finance up to $350 billion in chip purchases for the facility
- OpenAI is the frontrunner for the site, but Anthropic, Microsoft, and Google have also shown interest
- The power supply is controlled by the U.S. government and funded separately by Japan under a recent trade deal
Nvidia stock slipped 0.92% as news broke that the chipmaker is in talks to back a massive OpenAI data center project with roughly $250 billion in financing guarantees, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The project is a 10-gigawatt data center in southern Ohio, being developed by SoftBank’s energy subsidiary. The total cost of the project, including the chips inside, is expected to top $500 billion.
The $250 billion Nvidia backstop would cover the data center lease and debt financing — not the chips themselves. On top of that, Nvidia is separately in talks to finance OpenAI’s chip purchases, worth up to $350 billion.
BREAKING: Nvidia is in talks with OpenAI to guarantee $250 billion in financing for a data center in Ohio.
Details include:
1. The guarantees from Nvidia would help OpenAI lease a 10GW project that SoftBank is developing in Ohio
2. In total, the project could cost more than…
— The Kobeissi Letter (@KobeissiLetter) July 26, 2026
That’s a combined potential commitment of up to $600 billion tied to a single project.
The financing structure is designed to reassure lenders. OpenAI does not hold an investment-grade credit rating, so Nvidia’s backing would support the funding vehicles needed to get the deal done.
For OpenAI, the deal represents a major infrastructure shift. Right now, the company relies on Microsoft, Amazon, and Oracle for compute. Controlling its own data center would change that.
For Nvidia, the upside is demand visibility. A deal of this scale would lock in chip sales for years.
Who Else Is in the Running
OpenAI is described as the company showing the strongest interest in the Ohio site. But it’s not alone.
Anthropic, Microsoft, and Google have all spoken with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in recent weeks. Lutnick plays a role in deciding who gets access to the power, which is controlled by the U.S. government.
The power supply itself is funded separately by Japan under a recent trade deal, tied to Tokyo’s commitment to invest $33 billion in a natural gas plant.
Timeline and Scale
The first phase of the project is expected to be completed in 2028, starting at around 800 megawatts of capacity before scaling to the full 10 gigawatts.
To put it in context, AI infrastructure spending across the industry is on track to exceed $700 billion this year alone.
Analysts have flagged that these large, interconnected funding arrangements — where one company backs another’s lease and chip purchases — could create vulnerability if market growth slows.
Reuters was unable to independently verify the WSJ report. Nvidia, OpenAI, and the U.S. Commerce Department did not respond to requests for comment.
Oracle slid 4.21% and SoftBank fell 3.07% on the news. Amazon dropped 0.66%, while Microsoft edged up 0.03%.
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