Nvidia backs financing for OpenAI data center in Ohio

Jensen Huang, chief executive officer of Nvidia Corp., speaks to members of the media following the company's "Japan AI Ecosystem" reception in Tokyo, Japan, on Thursday, July 16, 2026. Kiyoshi Ota | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesNvidia on Monday said it will provide the credit and compute for a new artificial intelligence data center for OpenAI in Ohio.The credit will support an initial 4.25 gigawatts of computing capacity with the option for an additional 3.75 gigawatts. Capacity is expected to come online in phases in 2028.SB Energy will build and manage the datacenter at the PORTS-Pike Technology Campus in Pike City, Ohio, through a 20-year lease to OpenAI. The frontier lab has a stake in the company, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman was also an early investor in SB Energy. "We are securing long-lived infrastructure for NVIDIA compute so OpenAI can deploy the most productive AI factories that can be upgraded repeatedly with each new generation delivering more intelligence and better economics," said Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang in a release.CNBC previously reported that Nvidia was in discussions with OpenAI to provide a backstop of up to $250 billion that would let the model maker raise debt for...