Nvidia invests $1.5bn in AI powerhouse behind OpenAI site

Nvidia will invest $1.5 billion in SoftBank-backed SB Energy and secure up to 8 gigawatts of AI computing capacity at an Ohio campus the developer is building for OpenAI.

The deal extends a pattern in which the chipmaker finances the very companies buying its hardware, a strategy that has boosted demand for its chips while fuelling concern over circular flows of money between Nvidia and its largest customers.

The chipmaker has secured land and power at Ohio's PORTS-Pike Technology Campus for a data centre that will run on its graphics processors and networking equipment, starting with an initial capacity of 4.25 gigawatts.

Leading technology firms are increasingly bundling chips, power and data centre development together as they compete for the physical infrastructure needed to run increasingly power-hungry AI models.

SB Energy and SoftBank aim to develop at least 10 gigawatts of new generation capacity in addition to the $4.2 billion investment in the Ohio grid.

SB Energy, an OpenAI partner, has been developing large-scale energy and data centre projects since its establishment in 2019 and is currently developing several campuses amid surging AI-related demand.

This move comes after months of talks between Nvidia, OpenAI, and SB Energy regarding broader financing of the project that had been discussed previously in relation to the very same site with an estimate of tens of billions of dollars.