{"slug": "openai-to-lease-gigantic-cold-war-era-facility-in-what-is-set-to-be-largest-ever", "title": "OpenAI to lease gigantic Cold War-era facility in what is set to be largest-ever AI data center", "summary": "OpenAI will lease a massive new data center in Ohio for 20 years, backed by a $105 billion financing commitment from Nvidia, according to a regulatory filing published Monday. The facility, built on a former Cold War-era uranium enrichment plant site, could grow to 8 gigawatts of capacity, making it the largest single AI data center, and will run exclusively on Nvidia chips. SoftBank and SB Energy will invest over $4 billion in local energy infrastructure and build at least 10 GW of new energy generation, while Nvidia will invest $1.5 billion into SB Energy, despite concerns about circular financing.", "body_md": "## OpenAI to lease gigantic Cold War-era facility in what is set to be largest-ever AI data center\n\nSan Francisco, California - **ChatGPT-maker **[OpenAI](https://www.tag24.com/en/tech)** will lease a massive new data center in the US for 20 years, backed by a $105 billion financing commitment from Nvidia, according to a regulatory filing published Monday.**\n\nThe project will be built on the site of a former Cold War-era uranium enrichment plant in Ohio and could eventually grow to have 8 gigawatts of capacity, making it the largest single data center for artificial intelligence (AI).\n\nThe data center will also run \"exclusively\" on Nvidia chips.\n\nSoftBank and the data center's owner, a subsidiary called SB Energy, will invest more than $4 billion into local energy infrastructure and \"build at least 10 GW of new energy generation\" to power the data center.\n\nOpenAI will commit $40 million to \"support local priorities.\"\n\nAdditionally, Nvidia will invest $1.5 billion into SB Energy, though the company preemptively pushed back on critiques about so-called circular financing, which has fueled fears about an AI bubble that will eventually burst.\n\n\"OpenAI will pay the lease,\" Nvidia [wrote in a blog post](https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/securing-the-infrastructure-of-intelligence/) on Monday, and continued that the deal was made with \"the same discipline we apply to supply-chain management.\"\n\n**However, Nvidia's financing guarantee, its largest, marks a shift in scale for a practice that has become common in the sector: despite explosive revenue growth, AI developers still depend on financial backing from their own suppliers to build the giant infrastructure underpinning this technological revolution.**\n\nCover photo: Unsplash/Levart_Photographer", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/openai-to-lease-gigantic-cold-war-era-facility-in-what-is-set-to-be-largest-ever", "canonical_source": "https://www.tag24.com/en/tech/openai-to-lease-gigantic-cold-war-era-facility-in-what-is-set-to-be-largest-ever-ai-data-center-3524921", "published_at": "2026-08-18 00:38:00+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-08-18 02:12:22.249311+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["artificial-intelligence", "ai-infrastructure", "ai-chips", "ai-policy"], "entities": ["OpenAI", "Nvidia", "SoftBank", "SB Energy", "Ohio"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/openai-to-lease-gigantic-cold-war-era-facility-in-what-is-set-to-be-largest-ever", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/openai-to-lease-gigantic-cold-war-era-facility-in-what-is-set-to-be-largest-ever.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/openai-to-lease-gigantic-cold-war-era-facility-in-what-is-set-to-be-largest-ever.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/openai-to-lease-gigantic-cold-war-era-facility-in-what-is-set-to-be-largest-ever.jsonld"}}