OpenAI signs 20-year Ohio data center lease as Nvidia guarantees up to $105 billion
This digest was compiled by AI from multiple sources — links to the originals are below.
OpenAI signs a 20-year lease with SoftBank subsidiary SB Energy for the PORTS-Pike campus in Ohio, securing about 8 gigawatts of IT capacity. Nvidia guarantees up to $105 billion in residual value for the first construction phase and becomes exclusive chip supplier for the first half of the site. The Wall Street Journal reports that $3 trillion in AI-related obligations across nine tech companies remain off balance sheets.
Key Facts
- The 20-year lease gives OpenAI about 8 GW of IT capacity, while the campus gross total reaches 10 GW with cooling and infrastructure included.
- Nvidia's guarantee is capped at $105 billion and applies to the residual value of the first 4.25 GW construction phase, not to OpenAI's rent payments.
- Nvidia is investing $1.5 billion in SB Energy and serves as exclusive chip supplier for the first half of the campus.
- The first 800 megawatts of capacity is slated to come online in 2028.
- Nine tech companies including Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft, and Nvidia hold around $3 trillion in mostly AI-related obligations that do not appear on their balance sheets.
The Ohio Lease
OpenAI signed a 20-year lease with SoftBank subsidiary SB Energy for the PORTS-Pike campus in Ohio. The deal gives OpenAI about 8 GW of IT capacity, while the campus's gross total reaches 10 GW with cooling and infrastructure. The site sits partly on a former U.S. Department of Energy uranium enrichment facility and draws power from a 9.2 GW gas plant owned by the U.S. government and financed by Japan under a trade agreement. The first 800 MW of capacity is slated to come online in 2028.
Nvidia Guarantee
Nvidia is not guaranteeing OpenAI's rent payments but is backing the residual value of the finished data centers in the first construction phase, which covers 4.25 GW of IT capacity. If OpenAI walks away, SB Energy must first find a replacement tenant, then try to sell the facilities, before Nvidia covers the difference in value, capped at $105 billion. Nvidia becomes the exclusive chip supplier for the first half of the site and is investing $1.5 billion in SB Energy. Huang projects around 1.5 million GPUs per system generation, or $150 billion to $200 billion in revenue. Across all sites, Huang puts OpenAI's commitments through 2030 at roughly 12 GW of Nvidia compute, with an option on 3.75 GW more in Ohio bringing the package to about 16 GW worth roughly $600 billion.
Off-Balance-Sheet Obligations
A Wall Street Journal analysis finds nine tech companies, including Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft, and Nvidia, hold around $3 trillion in mostly AI-related commitments that do not appear on their balance sheets. Leases are recorded only when payments begin, and purchase commitments only when goods are delivered, leaving $1.2 trillion in unstarted leases off the books, four times the level a year earlier. At Alphabet, purchase commitments jumped from $332 billion to $811 billion within three months. The contracts are nearly impossible to cancel, and both Alphabet and Amazon recently reported negative free cash flow.
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OpenAI signs 20-year Ohio data center lease as Nvidia guarantees up to $105 billion
