Nvidia Wins Ohio AI Data Center Bid for OpenAI 20-Year Lease as SB Energy Sees Financing Boost
Updated
Updated · Yahoo Finance · Aug 18
Nvidia Wins Ohio AI Data Center Bid for OpenAI 20-Year Lease as SB Energy Sees Financing Boost
3 articles · Updated · Yahoo Finance · Aug 18
Summary
SB Energy said Nvidia won a "very competitive" process for the massive Ohio AI data center that OpenAI will lease, with interest also coming from hyperscalers, cloud providers and frontier AI firms.
Nvidia’s role should help unlock investment-grade financing for the infrastructure and improve the project’s odds of success, SB Energy Co-CEO Rich Hossfeld told CNBC.
SB Energy said it is not exposed to fast chip depreciation because it is financing the campus, land, power and buildings—not the GPUs—while viewing the site as 20- to 40-year infrastructure.
Nvidia shares fell more than 2% Tuesday for a third straight down session, even as BofA said concerns about the chipmaker’s vendor-financing risk may be overstated and already reflected in the stock.
The Ohio project is part of Nvidia’s broader OpenAI buildout announced this week, including up to $105 billion of investment and as much as 8 gigawatts of computing capacity.
How will developers balance a multi-billion dollar AI mega-campus with the ongoing environmental cleanup of contaminated groundwater?
Will building a massive AI hub on a former radioactive nuclear site pose hidden dangers to thousands of new workers?
Can tech giants truly secure 8 gigawatts of power without quietly passing the massive infrastructure bill to local ratepayers?
The $60 Billion, 10-Gigawatt Ohio AI Megaproject: Economic Promise, Energy Dilemma, and the Global Race for Compute
Overview
OpenAI, Nvidia, and partners chose Pike County, Ohio, for the massive PORTS-Pike Technology Campus because traditional tech hubs like Northern Virginia and Silicon Valley face land and power shortages, as well as community resistance. The federally owned PORTS site offers immediate access to high-capacity power infrastructure and is fully funded for its 9.2 GW natural gas plant through Japanese-backed investment, avoiding local utility debt. SB Energy and AEP Ohio are investing billions in grid upgrades, shielding Ohio families from extra costs. However, the plant’s huge gas demand is likely to raise regional energy prices, while public backlash grows due to secrecy and limited community input.