Nvidia in Talks to Guarantee $250B Financing for OpenAI's 10-Gigawatt Ohio Data Center

What happened

According to reports from the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg on July 26-27, 2026, Nvidia is in talks to guarantee approximately $250B in debt financing so OpenAI can lease SoftBank's 10-gigawatt data center campus in Piketon, Ohio. Separately, Nvidia is also discussing financing up to $350B in chips for the project.

Context and impact

The project would be historically the largest data center in the world. For OpenAI, it represents a first step toward owning its own infrastructure rather than renting compute from Microsoft, Amazon, and Oracle. For Nvidia, it guarantees chip demand for years ahead.

Details

• SoftBank's energy subsidiary is developing the campus on a former uranium enrichment site in Piketon, Ohio
• OpenAI lacks investment-grade credit rating, requiring Nvidia as guarantor
• Nvidia is negotiating two components: $250B lease backstop + $350B chip financing
• Campus electrical capacity: 10 GW
• Talks are in early stages and could fall through
• For Nvidia, this is another instance of AI 'circular financing'