Via designrush.com
The chipmaker's potential backing would help OpenAI secure better financing terms for SoftBank's massive Ohio data center project
Nvidia is reportedly negotiating a significant financial commitment tied to SB Energy, the SoftBank subsidiary building out what could become one of the largest AI data center complexes ever constructed. The discussions center on a sprawling facility in southern Ohio that sits at the heart of the Stargate AI infrastructure initiative.
What’s actually on the table #
According to reporting from the Wall Street Journal on July 26, Nvidia is in talks to guarantee approximately $250 billion in financing that would allow OpenAI to lease SB Energy’s planned 10-gigawatt data center in Ohio’s Piketon area. The facility is being built on land controlled by the US Department of Energy as part of a public-private partnership.
Phase one of the Ohio project targets approximately 800 MW of generation capacity by 2028, with total costs for the Stargate initiative potentially exceeding $500 billion when factoring in chips and related infrastructure.
The financial guarantee from Nvidia is specifically designed to solve a practical problem: OpenAI doesn’t have an investment-grade credit rating. Without one, SB Energy would face steeper borrowing costs when financing the diverse power generation sources needed to keep a facility of this scale running. Nvidia’s backing would essentially let OpenAI’s landlord borrow money as if its tenant had a pristine balance sheet.
The Stargate connection #
OpenAI and SoftBank had already each committed $500 million to SB Energy back in January 2026, totaling $1 billion earmarked for developing AI data center infrastructure across the US.
Nvidia itself signaled its intentions even earlier. In 2025, the company issued a letter of intent to deploy at least 10 GW worth of Nvidia systems, with the first gigawatt targeted for the second half of 2026.
The negotiations reportedly remain fluid as of late July. There’s still a possibility the deal could fall through, particularly given the complexity of the financing discussions. Some of the talks also touch on funding for the chips and accelerators themselves, with estimates for that component alone reaching around $350 billion.
Why Nvidia is writing checks, not just shipping chips #
By providing financial guarantees tied to data center construction, Nvidia is moving further down the value chain. If the data centers don’t get built, the chips don’t get sold. And at the scale Stargate envisions, even minor financing hiccups could delay orders worth tens of billions of dollars.
For Nvidia shareholders, guaranteeing $250 billion in financing represents meaningful contingent liability, even for a company of Nvidia’s size. If OpenAI’s business trajectory disappoints, or if AI demand cools, those guarantees could become very expensive very quickly. Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our