Nvidia (NVDA, Financials), the semiconductor company that designs artificial intelligence processors, is reportedly in talks to provide a roughly $250 billion financial backstop for an OpenAI data center project.
The proposed guarantees would help OpenAI lease a 10-gigawatt facility being developed by a SoftBank energy subsidiary in southern Ohio, according to a Wall Street Journal report cited by Seeking Alpha.
The full project could cost more than $500 billion when including the chips installed inside the data centers. At that scale, it would be the largest announced data center development to date.
A backstop from Nvidia could make it easier for OpenAI to secure financing and long-term lease commitments for the project. It would also deepen Nvidia's financial exposure to customers purchasing its AI chips.
The discussions highlight the amount of capital required to expand advanced computing infrastructure. They also underscore the increasingly close relationships among chip suppliers, model developers and data center investors.
The transaction remains under discussion, and no final agreement was disclosed. Investors will now watch for confirmation of the financing terms, Nvidia's potential obligations and the timeline for construction of the Ohio project.