OpenAI, SoftBank\u2019s SB Energy, and Nvidia announced a massive 20-year data center site in Pike County, central Ohio. The facility will feature 8 IT gigawatts of computing capacity powered by 10 gigawatts of energy.<\/p>\n
The project sits partly on federal property once dedicated to enriching uranium. OpenAI stated that the goal is to generate 35,000 construction jobs and 2,500 permanent positions. <\/p>\n
Running exclusively on Nvidia hardware, the data center will be supported by a $4 billion-plus local energy infrastructure investment from SoftBank and SB Energy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
OpenAI expects the data center\u2019s initial computing capacity to come online starting in 2028, marking the first phase in bringing the mega-campus fully operational.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is going to be a huge site, with enough computing power to help millions of people use AI to do things we can only start to imagine today, from finding new medicines to starting businesses and solving hard problems,\u201d said Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI. <\/p>\n
The financial web<\/p>\n
This huge structure will be supported by complex financial structure.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nvidia agreed to guarantee up to $105 billion in conditional lease and power payment obligations, stepping in as the financial backstop should OpenAI default. In exchange, Nvidia gets exclusive rights to supply the chips, along with a direct $1.5 billion equity investment<\/a> in SB Energy.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAI is becoming infrastructure \u2013 the foundation for intelligence in every industry \u2013 and land, power and shell have become vital in the age of AI. Now is the time to scale the AI infrastructure that will power the next industrial revolution,\u201d said Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe are securing long-lived infrastructure for NVIDIA compute so OpenAI can deploy the most productive AI factories that can be upgraded repeatedly with each new generation delivering more intelligence and better economics,\u201d Huang added in the press statement.<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n Critics immediately flagged the structure, warning it echoes \u201ccircular\u201d financing where suppliers, buyers, and investors prop up one another\u2019s balance sheets.<\/p>\n Huang pushed back<\/a> firmly against those concerns. \u201cIs this circular financing? No,\u201d Huang declared, stressing that OpenAI remains directly on the hook for rent payments.\u00a0<\/p>\n According to Huang, Nvidia is simply using its scale and long-term visibility to secure durable physical locations. That strategy allows them to repeatedly upgrade hardware over multiple chip generations at a single mega-site.<\/p>\n Push for creating data centers <\/p>\n Reportedly, the initiative supports a broader federal effort to convert Cold War nuclear<\/a> sites into natural gas-backed AI hubs.\u00a0<\/p>\n In July, NextEra Energy and Brookfield revealed preliminary plans<\/a> with the US Department of Energy to redevelop Kentucky\u2019s decommissioned Paducah uranium enrichment complex.\u00a0<\/p>\n To counter widespread public pushback over data centers<\/a>\u2018 heavy electricity and water use, OpenAI and SB Energy pledged that local residents will not bear any energy<\/a> or infrastructure costs for their new facility.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Ohio campus will launch with 4.25 gigawatts of capacity and an option to expand by 3.75 gigawatts.<\/p>\n