NVIDIA has agreed to put up a guarantee of up to US$105 billion (~RM426 billion) for the new Ohio datacentre campus owned by OpenAI. That same datacentre is also being developed by SoftBank-owned SB Energy and is currently one of the GPU maker’s largest financing commitments.
Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA, said that in addition to the OpenAI investment, it will also be investing US$1.5 billion (~RM6.09 billion) into SB Energy.
“The More You Buy, The More You Save. Err…Earn”
Through its guarantee, NVIDIA is expecting a return of up to US$600 billion (~RM2.43 trillion) from the datacentre all the way through 2030, with OpenAI selling its 16 gigawatts of pure compute power, powered by the GPU company’s hardware. That power, by the way, includes the future Ohio site and its 3.75 gigawatts of power.
NVIDIA says that the guarantee will cover a portion of the lease and power payments, while OpenAI will pay the rent for the datacentre. Should the latter default on said rent, the GPU company will then step in to cover the gap between the guaranteed minimum value, plus whatever can be recouped by the land owner re-leasing or selling the site.
NVIDIA’s guarantee is in line with Huang’s keynote at Computex 2026, where he made it clear that his company wasn’t just an AI company, but also transitioning into providing and building the necessary infrastructure for tech companies seeking hyperscalers and big data solutions.
Huang’s investment decisions through NVIDIA haven’t been without scrutiny. Critics see this as a form of circular financing, in which a company or entity invests in or lends money to a customer who then purchases products from the original investor and supplier. This creates a closed loop between the companies and effectively locks out any potential competitors with a better or similar product, although in this case, it seems unlikely, considering how niche the AI tech market is.
Long-Term, Not Circular, Investments
Huang dismissed these fears, saying that his company’s investment into OpenAI is based on “scale and long-term visibility”, and not circular financing. “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.”
To support the site, SoftBank and SB Energy plan to build at least 10 gigawatts of new power generation and invest $4.2 billion (RM17.04 billion) in new regional grid infrastructure through a partnership with AEP Ohio.
The project is also expected to create about 35,000 construction jobs through 2032 and about 2,500 long-term operating jobs.
(Source: Reuters)
