Nvidia Eyes $3 Billion Investment in SB Energy as OpenAI Data Center Financing Takes Shape
The chipmaker is discussing an equity stake split between the Ohio project deal signing and SB Energy's upcoming IPO, while the credit support package for the campus narrows from earlier projections.
BENGALURU: Nvidia is in talks to invest as much as $3 billion in SB Energy, the SoftBank subsidiary developing a massive Ohio data center campus for OpenAI, the Information reported on Saturday, citing people familiar with the discussions. Half of the proposed investment would come when the Ohio project deal is signed, with the other half tied to SB Energy's planned initial public offering, which could raise at least $5 billion as soon as next month.
The equity discussion adds another layer to the financing web around the Pike County campus, where OpenAI has agreed to lease capacity for 20 years and Nvidia is positioned as the exclusive chip supplier. Nvidia is also negotiating roughly $100 billion in credit support for the project, though the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that the guarantee has been scaled down from the $250 billion previously discussed to an initial figure of less than $120 billion. The revised structure suggests the parties are still calibrating how to distribute risk across a project that could ultimately require 8 gigawatts of capacity and billions in new power generation.
SB Energy, founded in 2019 and backed by OpenAI as well as SoftBank, has become a central player in AI infrastructure development, building campuses that pair large-scale power assets with data center space. An equity stake would give Nvidia direct exposure to the developer while reinforcing its role as the anchor chip provider for OpenAI's long-term compute roadmap. Reuters could not independently verify the Information report, and Nvidia and SB Energy did not immediately respond to requests for comment outside regular business hours.
BuiltWorld AI Operational Take: Tying half of a $3 billion investment to the IPO means SB Energy's public debut now carries weight beyond its own balance sheet. If the listing slips or prices below expectations, the equity portion of the Ohio financing structure weakens and debt terms could tighten. Project teams should be watching the IPO calendar as closely as the construction schedule, because the two timelines are now linked in ways that will shape the pace of the entire campus rollout.