OpenAI Nvidia data center funding talks focus on $250 billion guarantee

Nvidia is in talks with OpenAI over a data center funding arrangement that could guarantee $250 billion for a large artificial intelligence infrastructure project, according to a Wall Street Journal report Monday. The proposed OpenAI Nvidia data center funding deal would support OpenAI’s potential lease of a 10-gigawatt site in southeastern Ohio, a project the Journal said could cost more than $500 billion in total.

The Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, described the plan as one of the most ambitious financing efforts tied to the US AI buildout. If completed, the Ohio site would be the largest data center project so far, according to the report.

Nvidia’s role would be to help back the financing needed by the data-center developer, which the Journal said is owned by Japan’s SoftBank. A guarantee from Nvidia could allow the developer to borrow on better terms than it might secure if OpenAI were leasing the site without a stronger financial backer. The Journal noted that OpenAI is private, unprofitable and does not carry an investment-grade credit rating.

What is the OpenAI Nvidia data center funding deal?

The arrangement under discussion would not be a conventional data center purchase by OpenAI. It would use Nvidia’s support to strengthen financing for a developer-owned project that OpenAI could lease, giving lenders more comfort that the project has backing from a major AI chip supplier.

OpenAI has been in advanced talks for several weeks to lease the Ohio site, the Journal reported, citing people familiar with the discussions. Anthropic, Google and Microsoft have also shown interest in the project, according to the same report.

The talks sit alongside other financial links between Nvidia and OpenAI. The Journal said Nvidia has already invested $30 billion in OpenAI and is also discussing a separate arrangement to fund OpenAI chip purchases worth $350 billion, citing people familiar with those discussions.

Such structures have drawn attention because money can move through a closed loop of AI companies, chipmakers and infrastructure providers. The Journal said these “circular funding” arrangements have raised concerns that the sector could be exposed if investor appetite weakens or growth slows at AI companies.

Why the Ohio project matters for OpenAI

The Ohio data center would mark OpenAI’s first role as a tenant in such a facility, according to the Journal. That would bring the company closer to direct oversight of computing infrastructure, which it currently relies on mainly through providers such as Amazon and Microsoft.

The scale of OpenAI’s computing needs has grown sharply. The Journal reported that the company recently lifted its forecast for computing-power spending through 2030 from about $600 billion to roughly $750 billion. The report said it remains unclear how the proposed Ohio lease and financing structure would affect those figures.

The potential project also comes as data center construction faces broader political scrutiny in the United States. PYMNTS reported earlier this month that public resistance to new facilities has increased as AI infrastructure expands.

New York has imposed a one-year moratorium on new data center construction, the first statewide ban of its kind, according to PYMNTS. Maine lawmakers approved a statewide ban, but Gov. Janet Mills vetoed it. Minnesota, Michigan, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, New Hampshire and Virginia are considering similar legislation, according to an analysis by law firm Foley & Lardner.

“If additional states follow suit, New York’s decision could become the beginning of a broader regulatory trend rather than an isolated event,” Foley & Lardner said in its analysis.

This story draws on original reporting from PYMNTS.