NVIDIA is in talks for a deal that could be written into the history of the AI boom—a $25 billion financing guarantee for OpenAI, according to informed sources. With NVIDIA's credit backing, OpenAI will be able to lease a large data center project developed by a SoftBank energy subsidiary in southern Ohio, with a capacity of 10 gigawatts. If the internal chips are included, the total investment is expected to exceed $50 billion, making it the largest planned data center in the world so far.
The power required by this campus is astronomical—about 10 gigawatts, equivalent to the electricity consumption of hundreds of thousands of households. The entire project will take years, with the first phase expected to be completed by 2028, providing about 800 megawatts of power. Interestingly, the power needed for the project is controlled by the U.S. government and supported by Japan alone under a recent trade agreement. U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is currently involved in deciding the allocation of power rights. In addition to OpenAI showing strong interest, tech giants such as Anthropic, Microsoft, and Google have also been in discussions with Lutnick in recent weeks.
Why does OpenAI need NVIDIA's guarantee? The key lies in OpenAI's balance sheet. It is still in a loss-making position and has not gone public, lacking an investment-grade credit rating. NVIDIA's guarantee can help SoftBank-owned data center developers secure debt funding at better terms. Under the proposed framework, NVIDIA will guarantee a series of financing instruments, giving lenders confidence in the project's financial chain. However, the terms are not yet finalized, and the transaction still faces uncertainties.
The $25 billion guarantee covers only the data center's rental costs and construction-related debt, not the NVIDIA chips used internally. According to informed sources, NVIDIA, which has already invested $3 billion in OpenAI, is also discussing a potential chip procurement financing agreement worth up to $35 billion. This "circular financing" approach has raised concerns among industry experts: once market sentiment turns or AI industry growth slows, the fragility of the entire supply chain will be amplified.
Looking at the policy level, this data center holds significant importance for the Trump administration and the Department of Commerce. As part of a deal to secure the U.S. commitment to lower tariffs, Japan agreed to invest $3.3 billion in a natural gas power project located on federal land in Ohio, operated by SoftBank Energy. To avoid permitting delays and community protests across the U.S., the site was chosen at an abandoned uranium enrichment facility about 50 miles south of Columbus. In terms of revenue sharing, the U.S. and Japan will share electricity sales income until Japan recoups its initial $3.3 billion investment, after which the U.S. will take 90% of the revenue. This structure reflects the current administration's attempt to bypass traditional procedures and directly collaborate with the private sector to accelerate the development of critical industries.
A bigger change lies in the financing model. Tech giants with investment-grade ratings are increasingly using their balance sheets to provide loan guarantees for smaller companies, a practice known in the industry as "credit wrapping." Google previously provided similar guarantees for parts of Anthropic's data centers, which also helped boost sales of its own TPU chips. For OpenAI, this data center will be its first leased dedicated facility, indicating that it is learning to reduce reliance on third-party cloud service providers like Microsoft, Amazon, and Oracle—just recently, it raised its projected computing power spending through 2030 to about $75 billion.
