NVIDIA Poised to Back OpenAI Data Center by 2028

NVIDIA is reportedly negotiating roughly a $250 billion financing guarantee to back OpenAI’s planned 10-gigawatt data center in southern Ohio, a project with total cost potentially exceeding $500 billion and led by SoftBank’s energy arm. The arrangement would cover OpenAI’s data center lease and construction debt, with another discussion to finance up to $350 billion in OpenAI chip purchases, tying Nvidia to long-term hardware demand. OpenAI reportedly lacks an investment-grade rating, making such debt-heavy financing inaccessible through traditional markets, so Nvidia would serve as a lender of last resort to unlock the project. Analysts and critics have questioned the sustainability and potential distortions of this funding structure. The project involves government-controlled power funding and cross-border backing from Japan, with early phases expected to finish by 2028 and interest from Anthropic, Microsoft, and Google. The reports highlight a broader shift toward vendor- and sovereign-backed financing to build massive AI infrastructure for Nvidia chips.