Nvidia Cuts Guarantee for OpenAI's Ohio Data Center to Under $120 Billion
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Nvidia is slashing its financial guarantee for OpenAI's Ohio data-center campus from $250 billion to under $120 billion — more than half — after the original plan triggered a 5% single-day stock drop and investor backlash over putting the chipmaker's balance sheet behind someone else's infrastructure buildout.
Why was the guarantee cut by more than half?
Nvidia originally committed to a $250 billion full guarantee for OpenAI's Ohio data-center project. The new figure: under $120 billion.
The trigger was direct: after the Wall Street Journal disclosed the original plan, Nvidia shares fell 5% in a single session. Investors questioned the chipmaker backing a massive infrastructure project with its own balance sheet.
This means → the market drew a line: sell chips, yes; underwrite a client's construction site, no.
How does the new phased structure work?
Under the revised terms, Nvidia guarantees only the first phase — roughly 5 gigawatts of compute capacity. Whether it extends guarantees to later phases will be decided separately.
In plain terms = the deal went from "cover everything upfront" to "guarantee half now, revisit the rest later."
The guarantee covers data-center leases and construction debt, designed to reassure lenders and lower the project's overall borrowing cost.
Where does OpenAI's side stand?
OpenAI is still negotiating a binding lease for the full 10-gigawatt project. A deal could land within days.
The project is developed by SoftBank subsidiary SB Energy. If completed, it would be the largest data-center project ever announced.
Total chip procurement could reach $350 billion; Nvidia is negotiating a separate financing arrangement for OpenAI's chip purchases.
What new platform is Nvidia building alongside this?
This week Nvidia separately announced a partnership with Apollo, Blackstone, BlackRock, Brookfield, Goldman Sachs, and KKR to create a "compute financing platform."
The goal: deploy over $500 billion in outside capital over the coming years, financing chip purchases at competitive rates.
This means → Nvidia wants to shift financing risk off its own balance sheet and let Wall Street capital fund customer purchases instead.
Can the deal actually close?
Nvidia and OpenAI signed a memorandum of understanding in September 2025, committing to build at least 10 gigawatts and pledging up to $100 billion from Nvidia to help cover costs.
That plan then stalled due to internal dissent within Nvidia.
This reflects a core tension: Nvidia wants to lock in the largest customer order of the AI-compute era, but it does not want its balance sheet carrying infrastructure-scale risk. Halving the guarantee is a compromise — whether investors accept it remains the key variable for closing the deal.
Content is for reference only, not financial advice.