OpenAI secures 8GW Ohio data center with $1.5B Nvidia backing
rohanpaul_ai · x · 2026-08-17
OpenAI has partnered with Nvidia to secure an 8GW data center campus in Ohio. Nvidia will invest $1.5B in SB Energy and provide credit support for the initial 4.25GW of land, power, and shell construction.
Deal Structure:
- Ownership & Payment: SB Energy builds and owns the campus; OpenAI pays only when capacity is ready, leaving SB to carry construction costs.
- Exclusivity: The site will exclusively host Nvidia AI infrastructure, with Nvidia also financing OpenAI's chip purchases.
- Risk Sharing: Nvidia's support applies to completed-site value, potentially paying up to $105B if re-leasing fails, lowering SB Energy's borrowing costs.
Timeline & Challenges:
- The first 800MW is expected in 2028. Later phases require new generation, transmission, permits, and environmental reviews.
- The project requires 9.2GW of new gas generation and $4.2B in grid upgrades.
More from Venture
- Groq Raises $300M Series A at $2.5B Valuation to Scale AI Inference Infrastructure — GroqInc · 2026-08-17
- Gravis Robotics raises $200M led by SoftBank to automate excavators — lukas_m_ziegler · 2026-08-17
- Polymarket predicts 14% chance AI bubble bursts by end of 2026 — Polymarket · 2026-08-17
- Cursor's AWS VM cost bottleneck: $300-$900/month for 10 bots — Daniel_Farinax · 2026-08-17
- AI Economy Run Rate Hits $210B; Enterprise Spend on Top Models Plateaus — Exponential View (Azeem Azhar) · 2026-08-17
- AI Video Market Bounces Back from Sora's False Start, Valuation Hits $5.4B — The Decoder · 2026-08-17