Nvidia backs $105 billion Ohio data center lease

2026-08-17

Rent guarantee supports financing

Nvidia said on the 17th it will guarantee payment of up to $105 billion in rent for a giant data center OpenAI will use in Ohio in the U.S. Midwest. Nvidia is taking on the risk of OpenAI defaulting, helping support financing for a company under SoftBank Group's SBG that is developing the facility.

OpenAI said the same day that it had signed a 20-year lease for the data center in the state, which is being developed by SB Energy, an SBG unit. Nvidia will invest $1.5 billion in SB Energy. The facility will be one of the world's largest data centers, and even in its initial phase its power capacity will reach 4.25 gigawatts, equivalent to four nuclear reactors.

Phased start in 2028

OpenAI will begin paying SB Energy for use of the facility from 2028. If it cannot make the payments, Nvidia will absorb the losses and guarantee up to $105 billion, including rent and electricity costs. Nvidia can also take over the lease itself if needed.

The total investment in the Ohio facility is expected to reach about $500 billion. With Nvidia's backing, SB Energy will find it easier to raise money from institutional investors. It is aiming for an initial public offering in the U.S. as early as September.

Criticism of circular investment

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, that about 1.5 million graphics processing units, or GPUs, would be used for the Ohio facility and that, in revenue terms, this was 'equivalent to about $150 billion to $200 billion'.

OpenAI is a major customer of Nvidia's products and has supported the company, including by investing $30 billion in 2026, but the practice of directly providing customers with funding to buy its products has been criticized as circular investment. Nvidia again stressed that this is not circular investment because 'OpenAI is the one paying the usage fees', but the structure of taking on financial risk to encourage customers to buy GPUs can be seen as a variation on the traditional model.

Nvidia said on the 10th that it would launch a platform to help build AI data centers with six major financial firms, including U.S. investment firm Apollo Global Management. It plans to raise a total of $500 billion from external institutional investors.

As the race to develop AI among U.S. Big Tech and others heats up, computing capacity remains in short supply. As long as funding keeps flowing, data center construction will continue, but if AI investment cools, weak semiconductor sales and customer credit risk will emerge at the same time. Risks remain in the strategy of sharply expanding revenue.

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